I Found You, In My Darkest Hour
by NadWri
Summary: Every cloud has a silver lining. And for Stefani Perry, that silver lining might just be Daryl Dixon. But is it possible to find happiness at the end of the world? Surely not... Daryl/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my first attempt at actually writing a FanFic and sticking to it, so I'm going to do my best... The first step is actually getting it on here for once! It will eventually be a Daryl/OC, with Glenn/OC brother-sister like relationship, because I love Glenn/Maggie. This chapter's just sort of an introduction to my OC and how she met up with the group, the next chapters will be longer, and will tell you more about my OCs past, where she's from, what she does etc.**

_**Disclaimer - I don't own anything in my story, apart from my OC, Stef! (But I would like to own Norman Reedus, who wouldn't?)**_

* * *

Five hours. That was how long she had sat in this long line of traffic. Five hours since she had last had anything to eat or drink, a matter at which her stomach was protesting at. And even although she was surrounded by other people in their cars and walking around outside the only thing she had keeping her company in her car was her radio. Although no music had been played for a good three hours, thanks to some news broadcast that had apparently been put on a loop. Accidentally? Regardless, it was so repetitive she had eventually turned it off. She looked down at her cell phone for what must have been the fifth time in the last ten minutes, to be met with once again, no signal. Must have been a bad reception in this area. Another glance out the window told her that she was not going to be moving anytime soon. The window was rolled down slightly to help lower the temperature in the car. It was almost completely dark outside now but the car had held in the heat from the afternoon sun. Her fingers tapped a slow rhythm on the steering wheel as the small amount of patience she had left started to run out.

She took a minute to observe the people around her. There was a large RV a couple of cars in front of her. There was an older man standing outside, with two younger blonde girls, who looked around her age. His daughters maybe? He climbed the ladder to the top of the RV and took the pair of binoculars from around his neck to start scanning the area. To the right of her, there was a man and woman standing beside a little boy, who seemed to be clutching his stomach. If he was as hungry as her it was no wonder. She felt a small pang of sympathy for him, he couldn't have been any older than ten or eleven. They were joined by a little girl and a woman with short hair. The man that was with them was hovering around the back of the car smoking a cigarette, his eyes never leaving the woman. He seemed to slam the back door shut pretty hard when she went to reach for something out of it. She moved her eyes away quickly as the mans gaze landed on her car. He made her uncomfortable just looking at him, and something told her he wouldn't be friendly. To her left she saw a Hispanic family in their car, two smaller children sitting in the back seats, an older man wearing a cap in a mechanics van and a blue truck all parked up in a line. The truck appeared to be keeping a motorcycle in the back, but she couldn't see how many people were in the truck.

Getting fed up, she decided it was time to see what exactly was going on. The first thought she had was there had been a pile-up or something ahead on the highway and the cars couldn't get passed. That was probably only because she had watched the Final Destination films about ten million times. She surveyed her company before trying to decide who looked the most approachable. She was about to head for the man and woman with the little boy who looked like a nice little family, but as she shut her car door behind her the man and woman took off down between the cars towards the woods, leaving the little boy in the care of the woman with short hair and the little girl. The man that was with them wasn't exactly giving off good vibes so she started to make her way towards the RV, and the blonde woman standing outside the door.

"Hi," she approached slowly. She wasn't exactly a conversationalist in any normal given circumstance so this was a little uneasy. She preferred to keep herself to herself and interaction was minimal. "Do you guy's have any idea what's going on?"

"Oh, hi!" The older blonde woman smiled and came forward. "I'm Andrea, and that's my sister, Amy," she introduced extending her hand to shake then pointing to the younger blonde girl who also smiled before turning back to look up at the older man atop the RV. "That up there is Dale and that's what he's trying to figure out." She noticed the old man smile down at her and give her a short wave before turning his attention back to his binoculars.

"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Stef. I know this probably seems rude of me to ask, but do you guy's have anything to drink?" Stef felt awful asking the strangers for something, but her tongue felt like sandpaper and she would just about beg at the minute for a nice cold glass of water.

"There's some bottled water inside the RV," Dale looked down from where he was standing. He had a warm, friendly smile, that kind that made you want to be friends with him immediately. "It might not be very cold, but it's wet and that's the best I can do."

"I'd be so grateful, thank you." Stef returned his smile before Andrea had instructed her to follow her inside. She motioned for her to sit down at the table before locating the bottle of water and handing it over to her. "Thanks again, I've been stuck in there myself for about five hours, going out of my mind with nothing to do."

"You're traveling alone?" Andrea asked, a slight hint of surprise in her tone.

"Yes, I'm heading for my moms in Atlanta, weekend vacation sort of thing, didn't really pack the car for this kind of thing." Stef had only packed a sandwich and a bottle of juice, both of which she had finished in the first hour of her journey believing in another couple of hours she would be sitting down to one of her mothers home made meals and snuggled up on the sofa watching TV. Her small rucksack she had brought with her only held clothing and underwear to last the weekend until she got home again, and a few toiletries and books.

"So you've heard the news reports, right?" Andrea sat down opposite her with her own bottle of water, her face in a slight frown when Stef mentioned she was heading for her moms, and not the refugee centers that she imagined the hundred or so other people around were doing.

"I, well, I kind of turned them off. I got something about a virus going around but then I sort of gave up with it, you know. Same thing played over and over, it's the kind of thing that makes you want to smash the radio." Andrea's eyebrows raised, before she took a deep breath.

"Oh. Then there's something you should probably know."

During the next half hour, Andrea recalled her story from the past twenty four hours. She told in great detail how her and her sister had been traveling in their car when it had broken down out in the middle of nowhere. They had thought they were going to be stranded and alone, until they seen the RV coming in the distance. It was the first car they had seen in a while and they were grateful when the older man had stopped to help. She told how they hadn't met Dale before then, but he had attempted to fix their car, with no luck. He had offered to give them a ride to Atlanta and drop them off there, so they could get some help with their car. Andrea had been wary at first about traveling with someone they didn't know, but since they had no signal on their phones either, they really had no other option. She then went on to tell of how they had met a man wandering along the side of the highway, and it was the part of the story, she wished she had never heard.

* * *

_"He look's hurt," Andrea said, having exited the RV seconds before and walking warily towards the man. "Excuse me?"_

_The man that had been walking stopped dead, and Andrea took a step backwards. His head tilted slightly to the side as if to acknowledge he had heard something. Andrea thought she heard a low moaning noise, and started walking slowly towards the man again. The man turned around, dragging his leg around with him, and Andreas heart dropped to her feet. The mans mouth was covered in a red liquid, immediately obvious as blood. His eyes were a milky white color, and half of his cheek was missing in what looked to be a serious wound. Now that Andrea could get a better look she noticed it had appeared his leg had been broken by the way it was bent sickly to the side. But the most horrifying thing of all was his torso. He had a large gaping hole in it, where it looked like half of his insides were missing from. There was no doubt that this was a fatal wound, and how the hell the man was up and walking confused and scared the life out of Andrea. What felt like a year, but was only a heartbeat passed, before Andrea turned around and ran as fast as she could back to the RV._

_Amy, who had been watching from the binoculars had alerted Dale before breaking out into a sob which had tears flowing freely down her cheeks, thanks to the most horrific image she had ever witnessed. She had dropped the binoculars to the floor of the RV and headed straight for the small toilet to empty the contents of her stomach._

_Dale was now running, as fast as he could go, towards Andrea in front of him. "You should get back in the RV," he panted, slightly out of breath from age, "I'll see if there's anything we can do."_

_The next few minutes were all a blur to Andrea, but the next thing she recalled was a loud banging on the side of the RV. Dale had already climbed in moments before, shutting and locking the door behind him, before turning the engine on and slamming his foot on the accelerator. "Dale?" She spoke quietly from the table seat at the RV. "He's trying to get into the RV..."_

* * *

"He tried to bite Dale?" Stef asked skeptically as Andrea finished telling the story. She had heard a few stories around the last couple of days of people randomly attacking others, but she had figured that it had to be something that was explainable. Of course, there were rumors and theories as to what could have been happening, but she chose not to believe them. Not for any particular reason other than the fact they were just rumors. There was no solid proof that there was any illness going around that made you want to attack someone, at least nothing that had been dispersed to the public. It sounded stupid.

"He was the first of three. We saw two more injured people on the way here, but when they heard the noise of the RV passing, they started to chase after it like there was nothing at all wrong with them. We didn't stop for those two." A slight look of guilt flashed across Andreas face, but after the story she had just told, Stef couldn't blame her. If it had happened to her, she would have driven as fast as she could to the nearest police station, not stopping for anything or anyone. "It's kind of spooked Amy, everything that's happened. We think whatever it was has something to do with us being stuck here." Amy hadn't spoken to Stef since she had approached the girls.

"And here I thought it was a car accident or something.." Stef chewed on her bottom lip, cursing her own ignorance for not listening to the radio, or taking more notice of what was going on around her. "Would you guys mind if-"

She was cut off mid sentence by a loud bang, unlike she had ever heard before, followed by one, then two, and three more blasts. Andrea immediately took off outside the RV and climbed up the ladder with Amy hot on her heels. Stef remained where she was but heard shouting and cursing and crying and screaming, all of which made the fear in her stomach multiply. And it wasn't until someone shouted it, that she turned around to face the city in the distance, clouded in smoke that she realized what had happened.

"Atlanta's on fire!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! Thank you guys for reviewing my first chapter, this is my first time writing so it means alot, and I hope I don't dissapoint! This is set around a month later than Chapter 1...**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing except from my OC, Stef.**_

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Stef sat atop the RV with Dale's binoculars in her lap, trying to keep herself as warm as possible with the thin jumper she had borrowed, but failing miserably. A shiver ran through her as the moon continued to rise in the sky. But it wasn't just the cool air that had caused the shiver. The eerie stillness of the camp had her expecting something dangerous to happen any minute. Because in the last month she had gone from office assistant and weekend bartender to a fighter and a killer. Although, she didn't know if it could even be defined as a killer if the people were already dead. Because for some unknown reason, the dead were up and walking. Even if they had missing limbs, missing organs, or in rare circumstances, half a body missing, if their head was in one piece, they were very much alive. Not in the sense that they could talk, or understand most of the things around them. But they could walk, and they sure as hell could eat. Which posed a fairly big problem in the fact that they only ate living things. They weren't content with eating each other, oh no. Animals, yes, but living humans was apparently their preferred dish of the day. The few people who had met that night on the highway had been the lucky ones, if you could call them that, who had managed to escape the jaws of the dead and formulate a camp in a quarry just outside where the city of Atlanta had stood. There were about thirty people all together who had made it here that night. And although these people had only known each other for a month or so, they had been forced to work together in a team, and for some, they had even become like family to each other.

There was the Grimes family, Lori and Carl. At first, Stef had thought the man traveling with them was Lori's husband and Carl's father, but when the camp introduced themselves on the first night, she had learned Lori's husband had been shot before all this went down and she was left with her little boy. Her husband, Rick, had been a Sheriff, and after he was shot he had been left in a coma. Sadly, before they left for Atlanta, he had died. Carl was devastated by the loss of his father, and often proudly told stories of the times they had shared together. It broke Stef's heart every time she would hear him talk about his father, and she formed a sort of bond with Carl, as she had the exact same thing happen to her when she was small. Her father had died after being shot in the chest when she was four. They had been the victims of an armed robbery in their family home. Her father however, was ready for fighting back, and it had gotten him killed. She couldn't remember much about the night that it had happened as she had been hiding in the corner of her bedroom, but she remembered the nightmares, every night for about two years after it happened. Apparently, the robbers had some part of their cold hearts left and hadn't harmed Stef or her mother. Ever since that day Stef had despised guns. Which was kind of unfortunate these days. On the third night in camp, when one of the Walkers, as the dead had been named, had stumbled into camp, Shane had pulled a gun on it, and Stef's heart felt like it was going to burst when she heard it being fired. She knew it was necessary to keep the group alive, but she preferred to stick with the knife she had, as her preferred weapon. Shane Walsh, was with the Grimes family. He had been Lori's husbands best friend, and fellow man of the law. He had picked up Lori and Carl on his way to Atlanta. Shane had taken charge of the group, or so it seemed, but no one argued against it as he was doing right by them so far and no-one had been hurt.

Then there were Andrea and Amy, after being the first people she had met from the little group, she had become closest to. The two sisters were pretty much inseparable, and always looked out for each other. They were always smiling, and helped out whenever they could around camp, especially when it came to fishing, a skill they had apparently learned from their dad. Amy sometimes spoke about their parents, pondering whether they were still alive or not, as they were in Florida. They were isolated here, and it was too dangerous to venture too far from the camp, so they had no way of knowing if this was a worldwide disaster, or if it was safe elsewhere, a fact that let them keep at least a little hope alive. One thing for sure, was pretty much everyone in Atlanta was gone, the Napalm had taken care of that. Dale, had been traveling alone when all of this had happened, but he had already lost most of his remaining family anyway. His wife had died several years ago from cancer, and she'd never had any children. So apart from his sister and her children, it was just Dale. He filled in the father figure in the camp, especially for Stef, Amy and Andrea, something which Stef had been missing for most of her life. He mainly watched over the camp, hat on his head and with his binoculars in hand, perched on top of his beloved RV. It was a great watch spot, a few chairs atop and a view around that stretched for a good couple of miles.

Glenn, who had originally found the quarry area, thanks to him being a pizza delivery boy and his excellent knowledge of the Atlanta area, was one of the sweetest people Stef had ever met. In their time here, he had become like the little brother that she had never wanted. But because he knew his way around excellently, which was a good thing, it also meant every time there was a supply-run to be done, Glenn was the one to do it. He knew his way around the city, knew how to get in and out quickly and he was fast on his feet. And although he always came back, Stef worried every time he left the camp. Glenn was twenty five, same as her, and as they had both come to camp with no family or friends they had immediately struck up a good friendship. He had been painfully shy at first but when the group relied on him to bring back necessities, he became a valued member and came out of his shell. They liked to joke about and try and make light of the situation as best as they could. Of course, Glenn had been excited to start with, thinking it was like being in one of the video games he always talked about. The problem was 'infinite health' was not an option here, and when it was game over, that was it. He had made her laugh again, which was hard these days. She'd asked to share a tent with him after the first week or so, as it was the most uncomfortable thing trying to sleep in the small back seat of her car. Waking up everyday with a stiff neck and cramp in her legs did nothing for her mood in the morning. And although that was her excuse, the real reason was she felt safer having someone close-by.

Then there were the Peletiers. Carol, Sophia and Ed. Ed, whom Stef had been making a particular effort to stay away from. His stare was always on someone in the camp and he seemed to be aware of everything going on around him. Carol was quiet around Ed, but friendly and talkative when she wasn't, which gave the idea that something was off in the family. She was in charge of distributing most of the chores and did a lot of the laundry and cleaning, which the camp appreciated greatly. Sophia was a wonderful, well natured child, but she always sought her fathers permission before she undertook a task, and she made sure never to be out of her tent after the curfew her father had set. She seemed to have developed a strong friendship with Carl, both of them being near the same age. Morales, his wife Miranda and their family were quiet, but very friendly, and the kids, Louis and Eliza, got on well with Sophia and Carl, which helped a lot as kids fighting wouldn't have been helpful in their current situation. Lori and Carol had sort of a home-schooling set-up for the four children, much to their annoyance, but they got on with it anyway.

Jacqui and T-Dog had joined the camp shortly after it had been formed when Glenn had found them on one of his runs and brought them back, and to everyones delight, T-Dog had been a chef when the world still required you to have an occupation. He made what little food they had taste a bit more bearable by using some of the spices Dale had stored in the RV, not so well that you thought you were eating in some fancy restaurant, but it took away some of the plainness of having only squirrel or deer meat every night for the last two weeks, after people's supplies had run dry.

And then that left the main food source. The Dixon brothers. Merle and.. Daryl? The two brothers spent most of their time in their own little camp away from all the other tents and vehicles. The only time Stef had ever heard them talk was on the first night in camp when everyone was gathered around the fireplace and that was minimal as Daryl had told the story of the Chupacabra before setting up his stuff with Merle and disappearing. Most of the time the brothers were out hunting, which the camp was more than grateful for, otherwise they would have probably joined the mass amount of dead people due to starvation. Merle could occasionally be seen around camp, but was more usually heard. He had a stash of alcohol and drugs with him, which wasn't hard to tell, but because they had kept the camp fed, Shane chose to turn a blind eye to it. He wasn't causing harm to anyone except himself at the minute anyway. The only time Shane became wary of the eldest Dixon brother was when he was when his penchant for racism was shown, especially around T-Dog and Glenn. He had a bit of a temper at times, but mostly Daryl kept him under control. Daryl kept himself to himself, and Merle. He wasn't even half as loud, and never seemed as though he had been drinking or taking drugs.

There had been no new survivors to arrive in camp for a week or so now, and Stef started to wonder if this was all that was left of Atlanta. If you didn't count the thousand of corpses wandering the city, it was pretty much empty. She thought of her mom occasionally, but if you wanted to survive in this world, you couldn't dwell over that kind of thing now. Death was more common than life. Everyone here had probably lost someone, and feeling sorry for yourself wasn't going to do you a hell of a lot of good.

Stef was startled at first when she heard the noise below her. She then heard the familiar sound of someone's feet coming up the ladder to the roof of the RV. She relaxed a bit then, knowing it was the sound of another human being and not a walker, who would have made ten times the noise hitting over things and moaning and groaning to try and get to her. Whoever was coming up the ladder was human. The walkers weren't that smart yet, thankfully. She wasn't sure who else was on watch duty tonight as she had volunteered to take over Andrea's shift. Andrea, along with Glenn, Morales, Jacqui, T-Dog and Merle were heading into the city tomorrow on a supply run. The camp was running low on medicine and clean clothing, not to mention the ammo had gone down a lot. Glenn had planned a department store run with a few other stops along the way. Stef had figured Andrea would need the rest more than she would, as she would only be doing the laundry down at the lake.

She turned her head around to see the figure approaching the top. Daryl Dixon stood, crossbow in his hand, and gave her a slight nod before turning to head for the opposite side of the RV where the other chair was sitting.

"Merle's little brother! " She turned back around and grinned into the darkness in front of her. This was the first time she would be alone with one of the Dixon brothers, but he didn't seem threatening, in fact, he barely seemed interested in interaction at all.

"Daryl. Not Merle's little brother," Daryl snapped back, his head not turning round to look at the girl on the opposite side of the RV.

"I know, I was just... yeah, never mind," Stef figured it wasn't going to be a conversation night. She shook her head slightly before lifting the binoculars and scanning the area. Although it was dark, the dim glow from the fire and the lanterns around the camp made it slightly better to check for intruders. Most of the camp was asleep by now and Stef had to stifle a yawn herself. There was nothing out of the ordinary, if anything was considered ordinary anymore, and Stef leaned back in the chair, and sat in silence.

A silence that lasted three hours. And one that Stef was completely fed up from. The other times she had been on watch, she could chat with Glenn, Andrea or Dale. Even Shane had told her stories from his old life, which seemed to make the night fly in faster. But this night was dragging in, minute by minute. She'd talk to Daryl, and if he wouldn't reply, well she'd talk to herself. Her eyebrows raised slightly at her own thoughts. This must be what going insane felt like. She figured Daryl wouldn't want to talk about video games like Glenn or the general talk she shared with Dale and Andrea so she went for something she knew he would at least have a hint of interest in. His choice of weapon.

"My dad used to have a crossbow. He'd go out hunting with it every other weekend," Stef didn't look round at Daryl but she heard him shift in his seat.

"Yeah?" He didn't sound much too interested, so she pushed on.

"Your dad teach you how to hunt?"

After a few moments of silence, she heard a small snort of laughter. "He didn' teach me nothin'. Cept' what a bastard he could be" Stef immediately realized that Daryl didn't want to talk about his father. Obviously they came from two very different sort of homes. She had worshipped her daddy, until the day he died, and then long after. Family was a risky conversation topic, with anyone. She half expected Daryl to tell her to shut up but she was surprised when he spoke again. "Taught myself. Got lost in the woods once, had to eat"

"Oh," was all Stef could come up with, not really knowing what to say. She didn't want to offend him by pushing the matter any more. If he wanted to talk, then he had a mouth and he knew how to use it. The time continued to pass, neither one of them speaking again. It was only when Stef heard the signs of movement in the camp below, she realized the watch shift was nearly over. Dale climbed the steps of the RV less than a half hour later and relieved Stef of her watch duty before insisting she get a couple of hours sleep before she started her tasks for the day. She said goodnight to him before turning and following Daryl down the ladder, even although the sun was rapidly making it's way into the sky.

"Goodnight, sunshine," she smiled at him, her eyebrows raising in amusement as he glared at her before turning around and stalking off to his tent. She made her way to the camp fire area, hoping to catch some breakfast, otherwise she'd have little chance of getting to sleep on an empty stomach. Lori was already seated, and Stef smiled at her before sitting opposite.

"How was watch last night?" Lori asked, staring to eat some of the leftover dinner from last night. "I'm sure six hours with Daryl Dixon would have been fascinating?"

"It was... different," Stef smiled as she gathered her own plate of food. Daryl Dixon may not have been the most talkative person she had ever come across. But she liked him. There was something interesting about him, and she'd get more than ten words out of him yet.

* * *

Daryl was confused. That was the only way he could put it. Every other night he had spent on watch duty he had been met with silence the whole night. His company never wanted to talk to him and that was something that he was more than happy with. In fact even when the world hadn't gone to shit, people didn't make a point of conversating with him. Especially not women. Especially not beautiful ones. And from the quick two minutes he had looked at her, he knew she was beautiful. If Daryl was one thing, it was observant. And in that small amount of time he had taken in how her long light brown hair had flown down past her shoulders, and her chocolate eyes were twinkling in the moonlight. Fuck, what was wrong with him?! He didn't even know what her name was. His relationships consisted of getting shit-faced drunk, meeting a girl in a bar, having sex with her, and then sleeping alone when she left afterwards. Something that he had learned from Merle. The one so-called girlfriend he'd had spent five days with him before deciding there were better things in the world and Daryl wasn't one of them. So when the girl had actually asked him something last night, he didn't particularly know what to do. He was socially awkward, to put it one way, unless he had gone through half a bottle of whisky. He figured she was just being polite.. hell, why the fuck did he even care? It was the end of the world, not exactly a time to be making friends. He entered his tent, and nearly stumbled over the sleeping form of Merle who had apparently fallen asleep in the wrong place again, no doubt after draining what alcohol he had brought with him. He gathered his hunting gear, and a longer sleeved shirt. It would more than likely be an overnight trip as he was planning on getting a deer for the camp. Once he had everything he needed, he didn't even bother to catch a couple of hours sleep, instead heading straight for the woods, his mind still on the night before and that damn girl. Hunting would clear his head. It always did.

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**Chapter 3 will be here soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3... Another update, I want to get through all this stuff so we can get to where Daryl really joins the storyline! (The best bit!)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my OC, Stef.**_

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It was uncomfortably quiet down by the lake. Stef was sat beside Amy and Carol, sorting through the various garments they had collected from the camp to wash. Lori had taken off into the woods with Shane, effectively skipping laundry duty. Everyone had a fair idea of what it was they were sneaking off into the woods for anyway. But technically, no crime was being committed. Lori's husband was dead, and she was moving on. Slightly soon in Stef's opinion but it was one that she kept to herself. If someone could find a slight bit of happiness at the end of the world, then that was fair enough. They had been joined down by the water by the delight that was Ed Peletier. He stood a distance away beside his car, smoking on another of his cigarettes as he studied the work being undertaken in front of him. Carol occasionally snuck glances over her shoulder before turning her attention back to her work with a somber expression. Amy was silent for most of the time, her worry for Andrea heading into Atlanta evident. She had begged her sister to stay with her, but the older girl had gotten her way and set off with Glenn and the rest of the group early this morning.

Stef had managed to get a couple of hours sleep in after her watch shift with Daryl. She apparently had found it easier to get to sleep through the day, probably thanks to the knowledge that there were more than two people keeping an eye on the camp, as the idea often made for many sleepless nights. She wouldn't exactly say she liked her sleeping bag now, because if someone offered her the chance of a soft double bed, she would probably yell with excitement, but she had definitely gotten more used to it. She had never been an outdoors type person, but the dead didn't make it easy to find a hotel nearby, so there was no point in complaining. She picked up one of the t-shirts from the pile beside her and sighed as she started to wash it. They had nothing except from water, no soaps left or detergents, so the items didn't exactly come up sparkling. They didn't even come close to it. Clothing in the camp couldn't be considered as clean, but it was wearable and it was the best they could do. Most of the stains in the clothing were from unpleasant things, so laundry was a daily task. Carol made the best job out of the three girls, taking her time with each of the items and working to the best of her ability. She wasn't sure if that had something to do with life before the apocalypse or something to do with the man standing behind her. Regardless, she swiftly worked through all the items in her pile, before putting them in a basket and heading back towards Ed and the car. Once they were both in the car with the laundry, Ed started the car and made his way back to camp.

"Looks like we're walking back then," Amy spoke for the first time since they had come down to the water.

"Yeah. I guess," Stef laughed slightly and then looked at the girl still fumbling with the same shirt she had been washing five minutes ago. "She'll be OK, you know. Andrea's tougher than we give her credit for." Amy bit down on her lip before casting a thoughtful glance out to the water in front of her.

"I know she is. It's just.. I worry about her. I guess it should probably be the other way around, but.. she's all I have left." Amy sighed and the tone of her voice made Stef just want to get up and hug her and tell her everything would be alright. But she knew that was a lie. It was dangerous as hell out there, and as likely as it was Andrea and the rest of the group would come back safe and sound, there was also a chance that they wouldn't. It hadn't happened so far, but something bad was bound to happen sooner or later. There was no room for errors anymore and the slightest slip up could cost anyone their life, no matter how strong they were.

Instead of replying, Stef simply nodded her head in understanding. The mood had gone from low to down right depressing. She wanted to take the younger girls mind of her sister and her worries so she decided to approach a different subject. "So what do you think of the boys in the camp then?" Stef asked smiling, folding the last of her laundry into the basket, but remaining sitting cross legged by the edge of the water.

Amy's lips twitched slightly at the corners before a small smile emerged on her face. "There's not much exciting about them," she laughed softly. "Maybe if we had been landed with Brad Pitt or something I wouldn't feel as bad right now."

"Brad Pitt? Girl, you have horrible taste!" Amy laughed again and folded up the last of her laundry too, standing up and brushing off the dirt that had stuck to her jeans. Stef followed and hauled her basket into her arms. A ride back to camp would have been appreciated, but not so much with Ed. The basket was heavier than she would have liked it to be as she tried to adjust it to a more comfortable position. "Guess we should head back to camp," Stef groaned to herself as she looked at the small hill they had to climb as her and Amy started to make their way back.

When they finally arrived back in camp about twenty minutes later, Stef dropped the basket of washing to the ground. It made a thudding noise, slightly louder than she had hoped for, but she made a point of looking across to where Lori was now sat beside Shane at the camp fire. Lori's eyes raised at the noise and met Stef's over the camp before she seemed to smile apologetically at the younger woman. Stef simply gave a small wave, and headed towards where Carol was preparing dinner in T-Dog's absence to see if there was anything she could help with.

* * *

They were all going to die here today. Andrea had that feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was about to go very wrong. And it was all because Glenn had to go out of his way and ruin the plan to save some guy that they didn't even know. A fleeting moment of feeling selfish passed over Andrea then. This guy deserved to live as much as they did, right? But that feeling quickly passed. She had to get back to camp. Back to Amy. And that wasn't going to happen now. The selfishness was replaced with rage. Complete rage at this man. The noise of the walkers banging on the doors and the voices around her disappeared as Glenn re-entered from the back of the store, with his new arrival right behind him. And in that moment, Andrea saw red. Before she even knew what she was doing she had a gun pointed in his face.

"You son of a bitch. We oughta to kill you!" Andrea had meant for it to come out threatening and in an angry way, but she sounded more upset, and mainly, defeated.

"Come on, ease up," she made out Jacqui's voice coming from behind her and felt the older woman reach out to place a hand on her shoulder. Andrea quickly shrugged it off and continued to glare at the man in front of her who was looking more shocked than anything else at the fact that this woman still had a gun pointed in front of his face.

"Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole," Andrea's point seemed to be reinforced by the walkers at the glass doors of the building, because in that moment the hammering seemed to get louder. She didn't even dare to turn around and see how many there were, it would be staring death in the face. Literally and figuratively speaking. "We're dead… all of us… because of you." She half choked out a sob before lowering her gun and dropping her head to look at the ground, wishing she had listened to Amy and just stayed where she was.

"I don't understand," the man finally spoke up, maybe feeling easier after he no longer had a gun pointing at him. Glenn was still standing to the side of him, looking completely dumbfounded at the scene that had just played out.

"Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving! You know the key to surviving these days? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K.. Corral." Morales looked at the man with his head tilted to the side as if he had been crazy to use his gun out on the streets. Every walker in the area would now be heading this way, no doubt.

"You just rang the dinner bell," Andrea laughed humorlessly before glaring at the man again then walking away. He looked slightly familiar to her, as if she had seen someone resembling the man standing in front of her in the Sheriff's uniform. She wondered for a minute if he had actually been a Sheriff or if he had just found the clothes somewhere and put them on, because that's what most people were doing these days.

The man continued to conversate with the rest of the group, and although Andrea wasn't paying much attention, rather she was focusing on their impending doom, she did make out something about a refugee center and a helicopter. She was brought back to the present with a bang, literally, as the sound of gunshot could be heard. But this wasn't from out on the streets this time. It was from above them. On the roof. Merle fucking Dixon on the roof.

* * *

The skies had grayed over the quarry. Rain wouldn't be the most helpful thing at the minute as the clothes were out to dry and the fire was burning steadily, but if mother nature said it was going to rain, then it was going to rain.

Stef had been sitting in the RV for the past half an hour playing a card game with Carl, Sophia and the Morales children. She had marveled several times at how well behaved all four of the children were. The few times that she had spent with children before, usually younger relatives, had been full of screaming and objects been thrown here, there and everywhere. She had been hesitant at first to spend time with the kids, but when there was nothing else to be done, she had agreed, and it kept her mind off the group that were yet to arrive back from Atlanta. The children had eventually left one by one, Sophia first going straight back to her tent, and along with Stef now it was just Carl left inside the RV. He seemed to stare at Stef for a couple of minutes before looking down and speaking so quietly Stef could just barely make out the question.

"Do you still miss your dad?"

Her eye's immediately rose from shuffling the cards to meet his as he lifted his head up. His eye's seemed to be filled with hundreds of questions but he also looked as though he didn't know if he should be asking them or not. It was hard to talk to a kid about this kind of thing. But she figured telling him the truth would be better than telling him what he wanted to hear, that everything would be great and he would find happiness in a matter of months.

"Of course. Every day." Stef admitted sadly. "People tell you that it will start to feel better and you'll move on, but you can't always do that. Especially not if you loved your dad as much as I know you did." Stef paused for a minute and looked at him warily, relieved as she seen a small smile on Carl's face, the kid no doubt probably watching memories pass through his head. "But it will get easier."

"That's what mom says. But every time I think about him it still hurts." Stef didn't know where to look or what to say for a minute before she lifted up her hand and settled it on top of his small shoulder giving it a small squeeze. She chewed on her bottom lift for a minute, recognizing exactly what Carl was going through. Because 21 years ago, it had been her. He put on a brave face when he was around the camp and in front of other people. But he was hurting. And she knew from experience that it hurt like hell.

"Trust me, I know."

* * *

The last hour or so had gone past in a blur. Merle Dixon was now chained to the roof. Andrea would have laughed, had it been in any other situation. To his protest, he was now immobile, with the cuffs from the Sheriff keeping his arm attached to the pipe on the roof of the building. There had been a scene involving T-Dog and Merle and it had ended up with the new arrival, now known as Rick, trying to keep Merle under control. As it turned out he had actually been a man of the law, and not just looted the outfit. Andrea still felt as thought she should know him from somewhere, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it and it wasn't an appropriate time to be asking a lot of questions. Jacqui, Morales and Glenn had gone to look for another way out of the building, and T-Dog had stayed on the roof with Merle, which after thinking about it, probably wasn't the greatest idea. Andrea found herself downstairs of the department store, browsing through what had been on offer in the old world. Her eyes widened slightly when she seen a mermaid necklace sitting on the counter before her, immediately knowing someone who would appreciate the gift.

"See something you like?" Rick startled her slightly as he came up to join her at the jewelry counter.

"Not me, but I know someone who would… My sister. She's still such a kid in some ways. Unicorns, dragons… She's into all that stuff. But mermaids… they rule. She loves mermaids," she smiled for the first time since she had left camp this morning, thinking of her sister. If she had been keeping track of the days correctly, it was her birthday tomorrow and this would be the perfect gift for her.

"Why not take it?" Rick asked, as he looked around the other items on offer.

"There's a cop staring at me," Andrea half laughed, as Rick chuckled from beside her. "Would it be considered looting?"

"I don't think those rules apply anymore. Do you?" Rick smiled and nodded at her, before turning to meet the rest of the group coming back from their escape planning. And with that, Andrea pocketed the necklace.

* * *

"It's late. They should've been back by now," Amy was back to being frantic with worry. She had began pacing back and forth in front of the RV, lifting Dale's binoculars every two minutes and looking towards the road that led into Atlanta.

"Worrying won't help," Dale had now taken it upon himself to try and make Amy feel better. The sky was beginning to lose some of it's light and a rain shower had passed over around ten minutes ago. Not extremely heavy, but enough to put out what was left of the fire that they had burning, making the camp appear darker than usual. Strangely, even outdoors, the fire also gave the camp a warm feel to it. But when it was out, it was like something was wrong. And as if on cue, T-Dog's worried voice crackled over the radio.

"Hello, base camp! Can anybody out there hear me? Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me?" The reception on the radio was bad and his words could only just be made out. Amy made a dash across the space between her and the radio and picked it up, urgently fiddling with the dials to try and get something to come out clearer. Dale calmly took it from her hands when he made his way over and asked T-Dog to repeat whatever he had said. There was a few minutes of silence and Amy was practically dancing around nervously.

The radio crackled to life again. "We're in some deep shit. We're trapped in the department store." Everybody had managed to make out that part, with Shane and Lori rushing over to gather round the radio. "There are geeks all over the place. Hundreds of 'em. We're surrounded." In that minute Stef noticed Amy's face turn chalk white. She hurried over beside her and put a hand around her waist to support her as the first tear slid down Amy's cheek. Everyone turned to look at Shane and he ran a hand down his face.

"Should we-" Stef began to ask Shane if a rescue party would be the best option but he cut her off before she could finish the question.

"No. No way. We do not go after them. We do not risk the rest of the group. Y'all know that." Stef knew that was probably the right thing to do, but she didn't have a sister trapped out there like the girl clinging to her did. Amy looked at him with disbelief for a moment before pulling out of Stef's grasp and walking towards Shane.

"So we're just gonna leave her there?" She asked, as if she hadn't been able to understand what the hell Shane was thinking. Stef looked over at Dale but he simply raised his eyebrows and shook his head, before making his way over to the RV again. Apparently the matter had already been settled.

Shane looked at the girl and for a brief moment it looked like he may have been reconsidering what he had just said, but just as quick, he shook his head. "She knew the risks, right? See, if she's trapped, she's gone. So we just have to deal with that. There's nothing we can do." Stef narrowed her eyebrows in that moment. He could have at least showed a little compassion. Instead he stared Amy in the face as if daring her to challenge him.

"She's my sister, you son of a bitch!" And with that, Amy spun on her heel and stalked away, past the RV and down towards the water. Lori and Stef exchanged a look before turning and following after her.

* * *

The plan had gone well so far. As disgusting as it was, cutting up the body of a walker and smothering Glenn and Rick with the contents had kept the walkers away from them as they had tried to find a way to escape this hell. Andrea, Morales and Jacqui had watched from the rooftop as Rick and Glenn had made it to the gates of a compound with vehicles. There had been the first moment of panic when the rain had started to fall and wash away whatever vile matter the guys had on them, causing the walkers to realize that they were not, in fact, one of their own, but food. But with their speed, they had managed to escape and get into a vehicle. The second moment of panic had came when Andrea had thought Glenn and Rick were leaving without them, when they started driving in the direction opposite to where they had been situated. Then they had discovered they had been trying to draw the walkers away in the other direction, so they had a clear area to get out. And now, they were waiting in the loading dock. Waiting on their lifeline.

So when Andrea heard the engine outside she nearly burst into tears. Happy ones. The next few minutes were made up of the group piling into the back of the van that Rick had managed to get his hands on. Everyone had climbed in as fast as they could and Rick had started driving back to camp, with Morales in the front to guide him. Glenn had recently passed them in the sports car he had found, alarm blaring and seemingly having the time of his life. But there was someone else missing from their group. Someone that T-Dog could have freed with the key that Rick had given him. They key that would have unlocked the handcuffs of Merle Dixon. Andrea looked up and met T-Dog's eye. The man seemed to understand immediately and he looked down at the floor of the van, shaking his head.

"I dropped the damn key."

* * *

**And... Daryl will be making his re-appearance next chapter, yay!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

The camp was feeling tense in the late afternoon sunshine. The rain showers had passed over quickly with the clouds heading towards the city and the heat was back to being close to unbearable. After T-Dog's revelation on the radio, and Shane's disagreement with Amy, Lori and Stef had spent two hours following her around camp, making sure to keep a distance, before eventually sitting in the RV beside Amy, until she had cried herself to sleep on one of the RV's two beds. The exhaustion had taken over her and the two woman had let her sleep. She had only been napping for about half an hour when she was back up and on top of the RV with Dale, locating the source of every noise in the distance and her face falling when she realized it hadn't been the group coming back. Dale had spent so long trying to comfort her, before giving the girl some space.

Lori was sitting over to the side of the camp now, with Carl in her lap, apparently trying to give him a haircut. The little boy was fidgeting non-stop and desperately trying to break free of his mother's hold. As much as Lori would have liked to get the job done without any fussing, she smiled to herself anyway. It was things like this that brought back memories of the world before all this death. Carl hated haircuts then, and he still hated them now. Not everything had changed. Shane was sat across from them, his head occasionally turning to look at the devastated girl atop the RV, no doubt feeling bad for what he had said earlier.

Stef laughed slightly at the sight of Carl as she hung up another tin can to the string she had tied from one tree to another. Her and Jim had been putting them up around the camp to try and alert them when a walker was nearby. Walkers didn't have a large amount of intelligence left, and if one stumbled into camp it was likely they would walk straight into the traps that they had set. The cans would, if planned right, rattle loud enough to alert someone in the camp that they had intruders. Not only that, but hopefully the string would hold them back for a couple of minutes as well, as they tried to figure out how to maneuver around it. Fortunately, walkers weren't good with obstacles yet. They struggled with barriers and fences, and usually had to wait until they had gathered a large enough group that they could knock the thing down. It wouldn't take more than three walkers to break through the string barricades, but it would hopefully keep lone stragglers at bay for the time being.

Everyone had immediately stopped whatever they had been doing when they heard the sound of an alarm penetrating the calm in the distance. A car could have been the only thing to make the noise, as there were no buildings within the surrounding area. Shane and Dale were the first to spring to action with Dale stating it could have been a stolen car. So far, they hadn't run across any walkers that could drive, so it must have been a survivor, hopefully some of their group. Amy had rushed to where the road met the quarry trying to get a closer look.

"Is it them? Are they back?" She asked turning to face Dale. Before Dale could answer, a red sports car came speeding around the corner and down the road that led into the camp. As the group waited anxiously, the car pulled to a stop, and out came Glenn, the most excited looking that Stef had ever seen him. The alarm was still wailing out as Stef rushed over and gave Glenn as small hug.

"Holy crap, turn that thing off!" Dale looked mildly worried at the fact the car was still giving off signals to the whereabouts of fresh food for the walkers.

"I don't know how," Glenn admitted sheepishly, catching Shane's glare on him.

Amy immediately ran up to Glenn and started to grill him on the whereabouts of her sister. When Glenn had told her that she was OK, the relief had been evident on her face. She went on to ask where they were, and why they hadn't been with Glenn, but before he could answer, he was about to be scolded by Shane. Stef had already popped the hood of the car so that Dale and Shane could try and cut the noise, but Shane was still more than unhappy with the current situation.

"Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?" Shane was visibly agitated as he waved his hands around him, signaling at the people in the camp. He was really not in a great mood this morning.

Dale had tried to reason with him, and back up poor Glenn who had gone from looking like an excited child on Christmas day to completely terrified. "Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source," he reckoned, but noticing the camp's leader had turned to face him he just shook his head slightly. "I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" Dale had hopefully been right, and if there had been any walkers in the vicinity they would have got confused to where the noise had been coming from. Glenn had been driving so fast anyway, it would have been near impossible for one of them to follow him.

Glenn's face had turned a shade of red, and he sighed. "Sorry. Got a cool car," he said softly.

The squeal that Amy let out, made it pretty easy to realize that Andrea must have been coming back. Sure enough, there was a white cube van following down the same path that Glenn had come from. The next few minutes were lovely to watch as Andrea got out of the truck and ran straight into the waiting embrace of Amy. The two sisters had tears flowing from their eyes, but for once, they had been tears of joy. T-Dog came back into the camp next and was greeted with a chorus of 'welcome backs' before Jacqui took him to get food and clean clothes. Morales was the last to get out of the van, and his kids ran straight towards him, excited to be reunited with their father. It was then that Stef caught little Carl's face fall. Lori had turned him around to take him away from the scene, and Stef gave him a gentle pat on the back as he went, earning a small, sad smile from Lori.

Morales made his way back over to Dale and gave him a hug before turning to face Stef, Shane and Jim. "How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked, shocked as anyone else, especially after T-Dog's message had led most of them to believe that the group was a lost cause.

Glenn piped up from where he had quietly been examining the new car, "New guy… he got us out."

* * *

Daryl was sitting as quietly as possible, paying attention to where his target was heading. He was going to get this deer. Sure as hell, he'd stay out here for another three nights if he had to, but this was his deer. He had been on the trail since had left camp now, and picked up seven squirrels along the way so far, which he had tied to the rope around his shoulder. The food in the camp had been running low, especially the meat. That had meant the energy of the group had plummeted and they wouldn't be able to put up a great fight if the camp was invaded. As much as Daryl hated to admit it, the chef had managed to make the deer taste a hell of a lot better than what it usually did back home when he and Merle would have ate it after long trips of hunting. The camp appreciated his food, and in turn, they left him and his brother alone, which was all he could have asked for.

Although his brother didn't mind the interaction as much as Daryl did, Daryl had still thought it strange that Merle had volunteered to go with these people into Atlanta. Especially with T-Dog and the Chinaman, neither of which he had a vast liking for. He wondered briefly if they would have been back by now, or if they had planned to make their trip overnight as well. It was starting to get dark now, and he figured he'd need to find a place to sleep for a couple of hours soon. The deer shouldn't have been too much harder to take down. He'd already hit it with two arrows, so he guessed it would be on it's last legs right about now. He cursed himself for not getting a better shot by accidentally spooking the dear each time he'd been ready to fire his crossbow, and only managing to hit the back end of the creature. Hopefully tomorrow would finish the job and he could get back to camp. And back to his brother.

* * *

Miracles do happen. Well they did on this day anyway. After Glenn had said there was a new guy, everyone had turned to look at the seemingly empty van. At first they thought maybe he had been joking, but Morales had shouted over for this apparently invisible man to come and introduce himself. No one could have predicted what would happen next. The driver's door opened, and a man dressed in a Sheriff's outfit emerged. He seemed to pause for a minute before taking a few steps closer to the group. His eyes immediately fell on Shane and his face seemed to change into... recognition?! It was then that the loud yell of Carl could be heard coming from behind everyone. Stef turned round just in time to see the boy breaking free from his shocked looking mother's grasp and breaking into a sprint towards the man who had just arrived.

"DAD!" It was clear as day to make out what Carl had said, and Stef's eyebrows immediately shot up, nearly so far they were off her forehead. The dead did come back to life these days, but not usually as well as this man. The man bent down and scooped Carl up as he threw himself towards him. A rush of emotion over took everyone in the camp. Happiness, excitement and... jealousy? Stef stared at the scene in front of her for a minute, and couldn't help think one thing. Her dad had never came back.

She hurriedly got that thought out of her head and walked over to join Glenn, who looked just as shocked as her, as Lori came up to the two figures wrapped tightly around each other and joined in the reunion.

There wasn't much talk that night after dinner, when the group was gathered around the camp fire, but everyone seemed happy. Carl was half asleep on his father, who had been introduced as Rick, and Lori had one of her arms wrapped around the pair. It was a heart warming scene and also slightly unbelievable. Shane was sitting opposite the family with a small smile on his face. Stef couldn't help wonder what would happen between him and Lori now that her husband had made a re-appearance. There would hardly be anymore meet-ups in the woods for the time being. Rick was telling the story of what it had felt like to wake up from his coma and immediately be thrown into this new world. He had no idea what was going on, and no-one to fill him in. Stef shivered involuntary as he recalled how he had made his way out of the hospital, past all the bodies, and the walker, or rather half a walker, he had found. A man and his son had taken him in and tended to his wounds, before giving him the low down on life these days.

Carol, Sophia and Ed had been seated a bit further apart from the rest of the group and Shane looked up as he heard the noise of Ed placing another log onto the fire. Shane left the group briefly to try and tackle the issue that was the Peletier man. There was a small, quiet, dispute between the two men, but loud enough so that the rest of the camp could hear it, and therefore, become slightly uncomfortable. When Ed had finally agreed to take the log out of the fire, he hadn't moved from his spot, but instead watched as Carol got up and pulled it out, Sophia looking worried sitting on the log behind her. Stef shook her head in disgust at the man and looked down the the ground as Shane rejoined the group, after stamping out some of the larger flames. It was like a giant sign for the walkers, saying 'We're over here'. Stef wasn't entirely sure Ed would have even cared had the camp been attacked that night.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind," Dale asked no-one in particular, but his eyes landing on the seated forms of T-Dog and Glenn. Stef's eyes immediately snapped up to Dale as he mentioned Daryl. She hadn't seen him around since their night on watch. He had gone out on one of his hunting trips, and could be gone for days at a time. She couldn't say she was worried about him, because she had no right to be, but for some reason she found herself hoping that he came back in one piece.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me," T-Dog said, looking genuinely guilty. He had told the story at dinner of how there had been close to a death on the rooftop, before Rick had stepped in and handcuffed Merle to keep him in one place. Rick had given the key, and therefore the option of freeing or leaving Merle, to T-Dog. T-Dog had explained how he had chosen to let Merle go, but the key had slipped out of his hand, and into one of the drains that had been on the rooftop. Rick tried to take the blame for cuffing him in the first place, but T-Dog was ready to take on whatever Daryl was going to do. "I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie?" Amy suggested for her seat beside Andrea, who she was clinging onto, and not planning to let go of anytime soon.

"Or tell the truth," Stef said, her eyes still focused on the bit of dirt she had been kicking around with her feet. "He deserves to know what happened to him. What he does with the information will be down to Daryl." She felt oddly inclined to defend the Dixon brothers here. They had been good to the camp, and deserved a little respect.

"Since when were you Team Dixon?" Shane questioned from beside her.

She simply shrugged her shoulders and looked around the group. "I'm not team anyone. I just think it's better to tell the truth. What happens if Merle somehow got out and stumbles in here in a couple days' time? Lies do nothing but make things worse."

"She's right," Andrea nodded sitting up straighter. "Besides, Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary," her eyes met Lori's over the small glow of the fire. "And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked, his face contorting into a frown. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" He looked over at Stef, before his eyes finally landed on Shane. "Word to the wise… we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it," T-Dog said quietly. He seemed to be in thought for a minute, before he spoke again. "I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that… Not that chain, not that padlock. My point… Dixon's alive, and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

* * *

Stef lay awake looking at the ceiling of the tent. She couldn't take her mind of Merle Dixon and it annoyed the life out of her. If he died there, it wouldn't have been a great way to go out. She hadn't been there, so she had no idea what had actually happened, but it was still such an inhumane way to be put to death. Slowly cooking on the rooftop in the hot Atlanta sun, or if the walkers had manage to get through, being chewed to pieces and not being able to do anything about it, because he was stuck. She heard the flap of the tent being lifted as Glenn crept quietly in. Stef smiled slightly as Glenn tried to be as silent as possible climbing into his own sleeping bag.

"It's OK, you can't wake me anymore than I already am."

She caught Glenn jump and laughed quietly as he put his hand on his chest. "You scared the crap outta me!" He joined her in laughing while he tried to make himself as warm as possible. "Crazy day, huh?"

"Yeah, just a bit. Where did you find Rick?" she asked, having missed the story when she was helping to prepare dinner.

"In a tank, believe it or not. Idiot got himself trapped in there while hundreds of walkers surrounded him." Glenn stretched out and groaned at his stiff muscles from all the strain that had been put on them recently. "Luckily he'd brought a horse with him, so that kept some of them occupied."

"Wow. And hero Glenn saved the day, I presume?" She had meant it as a joke, but in thought, a lot of the camp probably did actually owe their life to Glenn. He had brought back at least half of the camp from supply runs he had been on, and no one knew how they would have survived if he hadn't. He also found their new home in the first place, so really everyone was in debt to Glenn.

"Of course," Glenn smiled into the darkness of the tent. "Got a kick ass car too."

Stef just rolled her eyes even although Glenn wouldn't have been able to see it. "Boys and their toy's..."

* * *

The camp had certainly picked up their spirits the next morning, now that everyone had been reunited, with the exception of Merle Dixon. The kids were running around just outside the entrance to the woods, with Lori and Miranda supervising. Carol was attempting to iron some of the laundry she had done, and the men were working on the car that Glenn had brought back. On closer inspection, it appeared they were stripping parts from the car. Stef could hear Glenn in the distance, visibly upset that they were ruining his new pride and joy. "Look at 'em. Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean." Dale had tried to reason with him that they needed the fuel for the generators, but he was having none of it, and the young boy pouted as he watched.

Their newest arrival, Rick, had exited his tent and headed straight for his wife, Carl smiling over at the sight from the distance. His smile was contagious it seemed, as Andrea and Amy were also grinning at the newly reunited husband and wife. Shane drove into the camp with the water he had collected and took one look at Rick and Lori before shaking his head, and shifting his focus onto something else.

And in a split second, the peace in the camp was shattered. A scream pierced the air, and everyone sprang into action. It reminded Stef at times as if they were firefighters, whenever they heard the signal of trouble, everyone was on the move no matter what they had been doing. Everyone picked up what they could find in the area around them, with Rick reaching for a pole, Dale grabbing and axe, Shane taking a piece of wood and Stef pulling the knife out of the band she had tied around her waist for keeping it safe. Once the source of the scream was detected, they all gathered around where the kids had been playing and grimaced at the sight in front of them.

There was a walker kneeling down, eating the insides of what once would have been a very beautiful deer. The walker didn't seem interested until the group of men approached, and it realized there was something more exciting than deer behind him. He immediately stood up and turned around, but before he could try and take a bite out of anyone, each man took a blow at him with whatever blunt object they had picked up. After everyone had took a swing, Dale had made the final execution by swinging his axe and cutting the walkers head clean off. Everyone stared down at the sight for a minute, before another rustling noise was heard. They all became alert again and waited for another walker to make his entrance.

But the first thing that appeared from behind the bushes was the shape of a crossbow, and then the familiar form of Daryl Dixon stepped into view. Stef felt a small smile spread across her face before she heard Dale mutter something along the lines of "Oh Jesus" as he turned and walked away a few steps. Daryl looked at each one of the group in turn before he turned his attention to the corpse of the deer and the walker in front of him.

"Son of a bitch! That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" he emphasized each word with a kick to the body of the walker, it's head still situated a small distance away.

Dale looked at the younger man from where he was standing and gave him a disapproving shake of his head. "Calm down, son. That's not helping."

Daryl's eyes narrowed and he left his position beside the walker to stand beside Dale. "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to _On Golden Pond_?" Stef tried to stifle her laugh from beside him at this point, which earned a look from both Daryl and Dale, Daryl in irritation and Dale in confusion. Daryl moved back over and crouched down beside the deer. "Been trackin' this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What d'ya think? Think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" he asked, his hand moving around the area of the deer the walker hadn't managed to sink it's teeth into.

"I wouldn't risk that," Shane said, turning away and earning nods of agreement from the rest of the camp. Daryl sighed and looked down at the squirrel he had managed to find.

"That's a damn shame. Got some squirrel… 'bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do." At that moment the head of the walker suddenly moved it's eyes and snapped it's jaws. Amy seemed repulsed by this and took off back to camp, her sister following behind her. "Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl asked walking up closer to the head and firing one of his arrows through the brain, hitting the spot perfectly. "Gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" He made his way past the group, nodding his head slightly at Stef as he passed.

Then, the moment everyone was dreading finally came. Daryl's voice could be heard from where Stef and Dale remained stood, loud and clear. "Merle!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks guys for the follows and favorites, it means a lot to know that someone is actually reading this! :)**

**piratejessieswaby: I know, right?! And Rick's about to learn that squirrels can fly! ;)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

No one had said a word, as they watched in silence as Daryl made his way out of the woods and headed straight for the middle of the camp site. Rick and Shane had took off after him, keeping a slight distance between themselves and the man for the time being. Dale's frown had deepened as he turned to Stef, before they made their way back, behind Rick and Shane, leaving behind the remains of the walker and the deer on the forest floor.

Daryl continued to shout for his brother, looking around the camp to see if he could see any sign of him. He'd figured they must have been back now when he seen T-Dog standing beside the RV, eyeing him warily. "Merle! Get yer ugly ass out here! Got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."

Shane was the first to speak up as he came up to where Daryl had stopped, wondering why the entire camp was looking at him. "Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you," Shane stopped a few feet away and paused when the youngest of the two brothers turned around to face him. He thought about his words carefully as he noticed Daryl's small snarl. "About Merle. There was a…" he wasn't sure how best he could put it, without earning a punch in the face. "There was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl seemed to process the information for a split second before he looked down at the ground, and kicked at the dirt with his boot. "He dead?" he asked quietly, looking up at Shane again.

Shane exhaled before looking at Rick, who gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. "We're not sure."

Daryl at first seemed confused at the answer, furrowing his eyebrows slightly, but then his face had changed to anger and irritation at the man standing in front of him. He moved a step closer to Shane. "He either is or he ain't!"

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick spoke, coming forward to join Shane, earning a worried look from Lori who was now outside the RV along with Andrea and Amy. Up until this point Daryl either hadn't noticed, or hadn't been interested that there was someone new in camp. He squinted at the man, who stepped in front of Shane to introduce himself. "Rick Grimes."

"_Rick Grimes_, ya got something ya want to tell me?" Daryl asked angrily, rolling out Rick's name as he spoke.

Rick did his best to keep calm even although there was a man, who had gone past the point of irritation to be completely furious, only inches away from his face. He spoke professionally, probably something he would have picked up from his Sheriff days. "Your brother was a danger to us all," he went on, earning a look from Daryl that sort of said 'you knew that, why did you take him?' Rick stopped for a minute before the revelation of what had happened to Merle. "So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Stef thought for a brief minute that maybe telling the truth wasn't actually the best idea that they could have come up with, especially as Dale whispered "I told you so," quietly from behind her. She shook her head and looked back to Daryl who was now pacing around the area, looking full of rage, mixed in with something that made him look slightly upset.

"Hold on, let me process this." Daryl's tone was one of disbelief, his fists clenching and unclenching beside him as he moved. The camp held their breath as they awaited how he would actually deal with it. It was by yelling at Rick, apparently. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Stef moved closer to Glenn and Dale, everyone knowing what was coming next.

In what would actually have been a pretty funny moment in any other situation, Daryl had taken off the squirrels that were hanging on the rope around his neck, and launched them in the direction of Rick, who just managed to duck out of the way in time. He didn't manage to make it out of the way in time of Daryl, however, who threw himself at the man crouched in front of him, and rolled to the ground with him. HIs fist came up and tried to land two or three punches on Rick, and T-Dog had been momentarily panicking about Daryl pulling his knife, but Shane had been quick to break into action also, and he soon had Daryl dragged off to the side in a chokehold. Lori had hurried over to make sure Rick was alright, but he dismissed her and walked back over to where the outraged Daryl was complaining to Shane about letting him go. "Chokehold's illegal," he'd argued, not making Shane lessen his grip any.

"You can file a complaint," Shane was getting annoyed at the display and held on to Daryl a bit tighter as Rick made his way over. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

Rick looked down at the two men struggling and bent down so he was eye level with Daryl. This annoyed Daryl all the more as he felt like he was being treated like a child. He fought the urge to spit in Rick's face as he came closer. It wasn't going to do much to get him his brother back. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic." Rick stated, enforcing that it was going to happen whether Daryl wanted it to or not. "Do you think we can manage that?" Daryl stared hard at him for a minute, before nodding his head slowly and muttering something under his breath.

Rick stood up and offered his hand out to Daryl, who refused and pulled himself up once Shane had let go. He straightened himself out and kept away from the Sheriff. "What I did was not on a whim," Rick explained, trying to keep things calm this time. The kids had been watching the fight from nearby, and the youngest of the Morales' children looked visibly upset at the dispute. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

Daryl scoffed slightly, "Coulda told ya that."

"Why don't you explain what happened?" Stef asked from her spot, some distance away, looking over at Rick. The Sheriff nodded at her and gave her a small smile, before beginning to explain his story. But before he could get much out, T-Dog came forward, his face solemn, and cut him off.

"It's not Rick's fault. He gave me the key. I dropped it," he admitted quietly. Daryl had walked over to him and fear flashed in T-Dog's eyes for a moment.

"You couldn't pick it up?!" Daryl growled at the man. T-Dog was a much larger man than Daryl but at that moment, he would have probably been able to kill him, had he desperately wanted to, and it was obvious that T-Dog knew that from the way he quietly went on, hoping the man would calm down, at least the slightest bit. "Well, I dropped it in a drain. Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks couldn't get at him… With a padlock. It's gotta count for something."

Daryl finally started to walk away from the group of men who were watching him carefully, and sniffed. The upset was more evident in his voice now, and even Dale who had been observing silently had bowed his head. Now that the camp had seen what Rick and T-Dog's actions had caused, everyone was feeling down. But Daryl and his brother were close, and his pain must have been worse than anyone else's at the minute. "Hell with all y'all! Jus' tell me where he is so I can go get him." Stef looked up to the man. If he was planning to head straight back into the city, alone, through an apparently crowded building of walkers, it was a suicide mission.

Lori looked at her husband, before looking over to Daryl, and giving an exasperated sigh. "He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Her husband nodded his head, and confirmed he was going back into the city, as Lori shook her head and entered the RV, a scared looking Carl following behind her.

* * *

Nobody ate much at lunchtime. Although there was all the squirrel meat from Daryl's recent trip, it seemed that everyone's appetites had been quashed. Carol had cooked up the meat, and some of the vegetables Glenn had found on one of of his supply runs, and handed out the plates to everyone. Lori poked around at her food, shooting glances over at Rick every two minutes. Carl seemed too distracted to eat, probably at the thought of his father leaving him again. The always quiet Jim had refused lunch all together, and went back to work on taking apart what was left of Glenn's new car. Dale and Andrea were on watch, so Amy had taken plates up to them and joined them, not wanting to be away from Andrea for too long again. The Peletiers were, as usual, sitting away from the rest of the camp.

Stef ate the last of the food that was on her plate, not wanting to waste what little stuff they had left, and went over to where some of the water supply had been left to wash the dishes. She cleaned it as best as she could before putting it back into the pile of clean plates, and sitting down to the side. She cast a glance around camp, looking to see where Glenn was now, and she found him beside Jim working on the car. She was about to go and join them when her eyes met the retreating figure of Daryl as he entered his tent, away from everyone else. He hadn't joined them for lunch, which was probably half a good thing, because no one wanted a repeat of what had just happened, but at the same time a bad thing, because it was rightfully his food they had been eating, and he could have chosen not to share it with any of them.

She thought for a minute before standing up and walking back over towards the now empty, apart from Carol, campfire area, grabbing one of the clean plates as she went. Carol looked up as Stef put some of the leftover meat onto the plate, and a small scoop of vegetables to the side. She then realized what it might have looked like, and bit her lip before glancing at Carol. "It's not for me," she smiled slightly, as Carol only nodded her head, and remained silent, still under the ever watchful eye of Ed.

* * *

Daryl was outraged. That was one way to put it. These people had cuffed his brother to a roof, in the middle of the afternoon sun, in a building full of fucking walkers? He wouldn't have even wished that on his worst enemy. If Rick had wanted to kill him, then he should have put a bullet through his head there and then. Not left him like that. It was no way for anyone to die, and he was going to guarantee that sure as hell didn't happen to his brother. The only person Daryl might have left on that rooftop would have been his dad. Merle could be a mean bastard at times, but he had the smallest hint of good in him. He had been helping to protect this camp, and feed them, and this was the fucking thanks that he got for it? The sooner he got his brother back, then the sooner the two of them could pack up here, and find somewhere for just the pair of them. It would be easier that way. Not a lot of mouths to feed, not so much noise to be made, and no one that was still living trying to kill the two of them.

He snatched up one of the old rags he had found lying on the floor of his tent, and sat himself on top of the sleeping bag that was spread out. He lifted the arrows sitting beside his crossbow and started to clean them off one by one, removing as much of the shit on them as best as he could. There was nothing pleasant about the arrows, probably covered in blood and brains and some other crap. The light in his tent increased, as he noticed a hand go out and lift the flap of his tent. If it was a walker, it was perfect timing, as he had no problems re-cleaning one of his arrows once the things brain had been disabled. And if it was one of them idiots from camp, depending on how much they harassed him, they might have ended up with an arrow in their head too.

A voice carried through the tent, feminine, and one Daryl recognized from the night he had been on watch. One that he hoped he hadn't fucked up with and would hear again. "It's kinda hard to knock.. so, can I come in?" she asked, and Daryl could sense a little unease in her voice. He felt bad for a split second, earlier, in the heat of the moment forgetting there had been women and children in the camp when he had exploded. He might have had a hell of a temper on him, but he would never raise his hand to a woman, or a kid. Because that was definitely one thing he hadn't picked up from his father.

"Whatever." Daryl tried his best to seem uninterested, but he was curious as to why she was here. The two blonde sisters, and Rick fucking Grimes' wife would probably avoid him now for at least a week. He looked up as she emerged fully in the tent, and he could see her face properly in the light. She didn't speak for a minute and Daryl looked her up and down, waiting for some words. "The fuck you want?"

"I uh.." she took a step forward, and it was then that Daryl noticed the plate of food in her hands. She set the plate down gently on the floor of the tent, not too far away from where he was seated. "Brought you this. I figured since you got the food, you had more of a right to it than any of us." She straightened herself up again, and Daryl looked at the plate. She had put on quite a generous helping of the meat and vegetables that the camp had made, likely much to the dismay of everyone else who probably hoped he would starve.

"Right. That it?" Daryl asked, the girl looking down at her hands.

"I spoke to Glenn. He's gonna go into Atlanta with you and Rick." Daryl shook his head slightly. Great. Now the Chinaman had joined Merle's rescue party. Did the girl think he wasn't capable or something?

"You think me n' Rick ain't good enough?"

"No. But he's good at this sort of thing. Besides, Glenn knows the way. Rick was only there for half the journey so Glenn has a better idea of where it is you're going." Daryl fought the urge to smile at the girl trying to explain herself. If he hadn't known better, he might have thought that she'd been worried about him, but that was shit. Not even his own mother would have been worried about him before she died. "I just thought it might have made sense." She finished, turning round to leave. Daryl didn't want to offend her for some reason, and if it meant the boy had to come with them, then so be it.

"I guess," he spoke, making her pause before she left. "Thanks."

She simply smiled at him over her shoulder, and exited his tent, leaving the the flap half open as she had found it. Daryl watched as she walked away until her form wasn't visible any more and lay back on his makeshift bed. He eyed the plate sitting on the tent floor, his stomach making a slight sound of protest that he hadn't eaten it yet. She had taken time to bring it to him, and for that, he was going to eat it. Daryl groaned at his own thoughts. He was thirty six years old. He wasn't supposed to have a crush on someone and that's what this was starting to look a lot like. Merle would have been enjoying every minute of this had he been here. He had to forget it, women like her had no interest in men like him.

* * *

Shane didn't understand this one bit. Rick, who had spent the last three days, in near death situations, terror and pain, all just to get back to his family was about to leave them again. He hadn't even been here for 24 hours, and he was about to take off and risk his life for one of the biggest assholes Shane had ever known. He hadn't disciplined Merle, but he had never liked him either. Shane would have died for Lori and Carl in the past month, and he couldn't see any logic in Rick's plan of abandoning them here. Carl's heart had just put itself back together, only for it to be shattered into a million little pieces again. He watched as Rick put on his uniform Carol had cleaned up for him, and made his way over to his friend.

"So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off?" Shane tried to hide some of the anger in his voice. He didn't want his best friend to become suspicious of him. He had to please Rick just as much as Lori, so he never figured what happened in the last month in his absence. "Just to hell with everybody else?" Rick shot him a look before he let out a defeated sigh. There was no talking him out of this. He should have known that, really. "Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?"

Daryl, who had been lingering close by suddenly piped up. "Hey, choose your words more carefully." Strangely, his tone didn't sound half as threatening as he had expected, so something must have calmed him down slightly.

"No, I did. Douchebag's what I meant," Shane clarified. "Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." A look flashed across Rick's face that he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. It was as if Shane had become a completely different person, and as if he had forgotten what kind of person Rick was. Rick looked over to where his wife sat, along with Andrea, Amy and Stef.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me." Rick started, pointing a finger to his chest. This had really gotten to Rick, and although last night should have been one of the best nights sleep he had gotten in ages, it hadn't been a good night. Rick was a good man, and he felt awful about the whole thing. Deep down, Shane knew that. It didn't matter who was on that roof, Rick would have gone back. "Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick looked over at Daryl and gave the man a small nod. Shane realized then he had no say in this matter.

"So you and Daryl_, that's_ your big plan?" Lori asked from where she was sitting.

"Me, Daryl and Glenn," Rick corrected, trying to send a signal with his eyes to his wife that they would be OK. "Thanks to Stef, who talked Glenn into helping us." Shane was less than pleased with this, if it wasn't bad enough the two of them were going, they were going to risk a third, very valuable, member of their group? Shane immediately walked over to where Stef was sitting and glared down at her.

"So thanks to you, we're risking three men?" The volume of his voice had risen as he spoke down to the younger woman. What annoyed him more was that she didn't meet his gaze, but continued to sew up the garment she was working on. She pulled the needle through a bit more forcefully as he worked as hard as he could to put and end to the stupidity. "What gives you the right to tell Glenn where he should be going?"

"Hey," Daryl scowled at the cop from across the camp, his eyes daring him to go on.

"She didn't tell me. She suggested it to me, and I agreed." Glenn pitched in. As much as he hadn't liked the idea a whole lot to start with, he had realized, with him or without, Daryl and Rick were going. And if they didn't have a plan, they were less likely to make it back. Which sucked, because Rick could be good to have around as manpower, and Daryl was needed if they wanted to eat again. Then Glenn had remembered the guns that Rick had dropped, and that had sealed the deal for him to go along.

"Whatever, man." Shane kicked at the ground, and walked away, as Rick pulled Lori to one side, no doubt trying to make a better job in making her see his side of things. Several minutes later, T-Dog had decided he wanted to go along. Shane was unsure if it was through guilt, stupidity, or the thought of what Merle might have done to him when he came back, but he didn't even try and argue this one. If the guys were stupid enough to do this, then they deserved whatever was going to happen to them.

* * *

Stef stood beside Glenn and the van, as the rest of the group got ready to go. Daryl had been ready for a while now, and was visibly starting to get impatient, occasionally honking on the horn of the van. Rick was stood with T-Dog, along with Dale and Jim. It had been Rick's plan to try and borrow some bolt cutters from Dale, but he was wary about giving them to the man. Along with losing Merle they had also lost the last bag of tools that Dale had given them for their last trip. Like Shane, Dale had been unhappy about the whole plan, and a part of Stef wondered if maybe Dale just didn't want Merle to come back.

She turned around to face Glenn who was sitting in the back of the van now. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like, y'know, you had to go?"

Glenn shook his head and chuckled at her. "For a second I thought Shane hadn't gotten to you."

Stef hadn't appreciated Shane having a go at her like that, but she had felt better waiting until her and Glenn were alone before discussing it. "Man can be an ass." She laughed, despite the uneasy feeling in her stomach. "Seriously, though-"

"Stop." Glenn stood up cutting her off, as Daryl jumped out the van behind him, and moved over to where the four men were chattering, clearly desperate to get on the road. "If I didn't want to go, then I wouldn't have said yes." He pulled her into a brief hug before getting ready to enter then vehicle.

"Good luck," she smiled as he tipped his baseball cap towards her, and entered the passengers door, no doubt in charge of giving the directions. She turned around and was met with Daryl ready to jump into the back of the van with T-Dog. She imagined that would have been an awkward conversation for their travels. He nodded at her and moved past, climbing into their transport, and closing the doors behind him. He sat himself down in the corner of the van, opposite a depressed looking T-Dog. She had said something quietly to him as he brushed past her, and Daryl had managed to make it out, clear as crystal.

_"Stay safe."_

Maybe there was hope for him after all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, followed or favorited this, it really does mean a lot! I felt I might have rushed through some of the scenes in this chapter, but I just wanted to get Daryl back to the camp! I do apologise if there not in as much detail, especially the Mexicans/Atlanta part.. I hope you enjoy it though! :)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

Five pairs of hands definitely made the task of laundry fly in much quicker. None of the women however, had missed the fact that there was still one person absent from their group. Instead of joining the laundry crew, as Amy had named them, Lori was missing, again. She should have been the happiest woman in camp at the minute. Her husband had came back from the dead, and he'd been through hell for her and their little boy, but she was moping around even more than usual. That was probably however because her husband had disappeared again, back into the death zone that was Atlanta. Shane had taken Carl away from camp to try and cheer him up a bit. They were splashing around in the water of the quarry at the minute, and Carl had a wide grin across his face once more.

Jacqui took in the sight and gave a slight sigh. "I'm beginning to question the division of labor here." The girls all smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. They were more than capable of helping with some of the jobs the men had undertook, and had become good at playing their part in protecting the camp. Andrea however, was the only one who had stated the fact she would have liked a gun. Stef avoided the guns as much as she possibly could, and had to rely on her trusty knife. She had used it to kill a few walkers on their way to the camp, and the one time she had went into the city with Glenn. Shane hadn't been overly excited about Andrea's sudden gun love, and had said she could have one once he had arranged some shooting classes. Which it wasn't looking like he was going to be doing any time soon. So for the time being, the women had been assigned the less dangerous jobs. "Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?" Jacqui was obviously also less than pleased as to how the tasks had been handed out.

Amy laughed softly as she looked at Carl and Shane waving around in the water. "The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?" She did occasionally get bored of having the little action jobs, but in a way she was happy. It kept her and her sister out of danger.

Ed was back on watch duty for the girls doing the laundry. He stood silently, observing, once again, smoking one of his cigarettes. Stef hadn't been a big smoker before this, but if she occasionally needed to calm her nerves, or if she was on a night out, she would have a few smokes. She had been tempted to ask Ed for one, but didn't think it would be the best idea. If there was ever a time she would have found herself missing cigarettes, it would have to have been now. Glenn could probably have found some in the city, but it would have put him more out of his way and she didn't like to ask. Maybe someone else smoked sneakily that she could find. Carol suddenly spoke after a quick glance at the man over her shoulder. "It's just the way it is."

The women sat in comfortable silence for a while, making their way through the clothes of the camp. Stef noticed as she was washing that there were none of Daryl's clothes in the pile. The clothes he wore had been washed by someone, so she figured he didn't like anyone else doing his laundry. Carol gave a small sigh as she looked at the piece of clothing she had just washed. It still had a stain the whole way down the front of it. Most likely walker blood, but hard to tell. She shook her head as she put it in the pile for supposedly 'clean clothes'. "I do miss my Maytag."

Andrea looked at her before she seemed to get lost in her own thoughts. A smile spread across her face as she thought of the old days. Even although the old days had been less than two months ago. She was thinking of the car that she had been driving, that had broken down, leaving them stranded, until Dale came along. The one that had never been recovered, because they hadn't even made it to Atlanta. "I miss my Benz, my sat nav."

Stef didn't have to think twice about what it was she missed most these days. "Food. The good stuff. Chocolate, pizza, ice cream..." With each food that she listed off she felt a stronger hunger pain in her stomach. Jacqui immediately agreed, adding in her coffee maker to the list. Amy gave the answers probably most expected from a girl her young age. Her computer, and texting. Stef did miss her computer too, and communication with her friends in general. Although most of them would probably be walkers by now, and incapable of working the telephone.

When Stef thought the women had gave up with the list, Andrea suddenly spoke up again. "I miss my vibrator." All the women simultaneously burst into fits of laughter at Andrea's confession, her sister looking momentarily shocked before joining them. Then something completely unbelievable happened, as Carol turned to the group and spoke silently.

"Me too." The women were in hysterics at this point, not even imagining that would have been something to come out of Carol's mouth. The laughter however, was short lived, as Ed seemed to notice from behind them and came walking down to where they were standing. Over in the distance, Stef noticed that Lori had pulled Carl away from Shane, who was now looking over to the women, but his mind apparently somewhere else. Ed stopped in front of where the laughter had died down and glared at each of the women in turn. The look he had on his face suggested that these women were nothing but dirt on his shoe to him. Andrea, fearless as ever, didn't back down from his glare and asked if he had a problem.

"Nothin' that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club." He was speaking to all of the women, but at the end, shot a dirty look to his wife. "You should know better." Carol nodded her head sadly and turned her attention back to her work.

And that was the final straw. Stef had kept her opinions to herself on this man up until now, but when his wife wasn't even allowed to be happy and laugh, that pushed her over the edge. They were supposed to be making a new life here, not feeling like they were living in some sort of concentration camp. She picked up one of the t-shirts from the pile of dirty laundry, and pushed herself up onto her feet, walking over to the man. "You know what Ed? You don't like how your laundry is done, then you can do it yourself. Here you go." She threw the t-shirt at him, hoping it would hit him in the face, which it did. He pulled the offending garment away and snorted, throwing it back at Stef.

"Ain't my job, missy." He gave her a slight shove to where she had been before washing up, but as soon as she was steady again, she walked back up to him, despite Carol's protests, and pointed a finger in his chest.

"What is your job Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes? Because that's all you've ever seemed to do since we got here." Andrea rose to her feet, and moved to stand beside Stef, who was silently thankful for the back-up. "Or is it making your wife feel bad? Because that's what you seem to do best!"

Ed glared at the woman for a minute, before turning his attention to Carol, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Tell you what… come on. Let's go." Andrea pushed forward and tried to stop Carol from going anywhere with Ed, Jacqui adding in that everyone had noticed the bruises Carol often showed up with. Amy was looking uneasy at the conflict, and got to her feet, looking around the camp for Shane. He was watching from the top of the hill, and gave her a nod, signaling he was keeping an eye on the situation, although Ed hadn't noticed.

After a few more words being exchanged, and Ed getting angrier by the millisecond, he raised his hand, and slapped Carol hard across her face, her lip starting to emit blood. Stef pulled her away from Ed now scuffling with Andrea. She picked up one of the laundry pieces closest to her and held it to Carol's lip, as Shane ran down the hill, and dragged the older man off Andrea, who was held to the side by her sister. Andrea wasn't scared of a bit of conflict, and had a pretty big temper on her too. The women watched in shock as Shane threw Ed to the ground, and started throwing punches into his face. Punch after punch until Ed could hardly keep his eyes open any longer. Carol was struggling to get free, but Stef held onto her. As much as he probably deserved what he was getting, Andrea tried to stop Shane before he killed the man lying underneath him.

Shane stood up, and hovered over the body of Ed, lying flat against the ground in front of him. "You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?"

The 'yes' that Ed answered could hardly be made out through the gurgling noise from the blood in his mouth, but it was enough for Shane to walk away, although not before kicking the man in the stomach one more time. Carol pulled free from Stef then, and rushed over to kneel down beside her husband, apologizing for something that wasn't even close to her fault, time and time again.

* * *

This was it. They had made it through the walker infested streets of Atlanta so far, and had gained entry to the department store Merle was on the roof of. Daryl was going to get his brother back. Then they could go back to camp, pack up their shit and get the hell out of there. Just Daryl and his big brother. And maybe even the girl. The four men rushed up the stairs to the roof of the building, Rick passing the bolt cutters to Daryl as they moved. Daryl took them, and cut through the padlock as quick as he could, pushing through the door so fast it almost came of it's hinges. He looked around for a minute, panicked, before he seen the thing that made his plans crash down around him and his heart stop. He narrowed his eyes at the object and walked forward, not entirely sure if he was seeing things or not. As it became clear what was lying in front of him, his eyes filled with tears for the first time in years. Merle wasn't there. Only his hand was. "No!" The other three men finally caught up to him and stared in horror as Daryl yelled. They were pretty sure they would have been able to hear him back at camp.

* * *

The commotion in the camp had quietened down. Andrea and Amy had taken Dale's boat out onto the lake to try and catch some fish for the group's dinner tonight, since most of the meat was wasted. Lori and Carl were sitting by their tent, with Sophia, and they looked to be playing a card game. Since the incident on laundry duty this morning, Carol had taken Ed back to their tent and none of the two of them had been seen since. When Lori had heard what happened, she immediately brought Sophia over to Carl, no doubt to keep her away from her father, who could have snapped at her at any minute. Stef was sat atop the RV with Dale, keeping watch, chatting about old holidays that they had been on. She like spending time with Dale, because it made her feel like things were the same as they had always been. It was the middle of an apocalypse, and Dale had spent the last half hour complaining about the standard of a hotel he had visited in Spain one year. He preferred talking about his past to the present, and it made a refreshing change.

Her other good friend in the camp was still in the middle of Atlanta somewhere, with the rest of the search party. She had faith in Glenn that his plans would work, and hopefully everything had run smoothly. It had been nearly three hours since they had left however, and the journey should have taken around half an hour in, and half an hour out at the most.

"You think they're OK?" Stef asked Dale nodding her head in the direction of what was left of Atlanta in the distance. She felt like a big sister, being worried about Glenn. She was also slightly worried about Daryl out there. She'd admitted to herself earlier that she found herself a little bit attracted to him. The man was definitely not bad looking, and although she'd tried to avoid staring she couldn't help notice he had a great, muscular body too. Although he didn't exactly have the personality of Prince Charming, Stef had decided there was more to him than the bad tempered, angry redneck the rest of the camp seemed to have him pinned as.

"I think so. Look how long it took them to come back from their trip last time," Dale reminded her. "I hope so anyway." Stef picked up the binoculars again, and looked around once more, for any sign of them coming back down the road. Nothing there, but there was something else that she picked up on.

"Dale, take a look." She had spotted Jim on top of a hill. Digging holes in the ground, in the blistering heat of the sun. His skin looked reddened from what she could tell, and she wasn't sure how long he had been up there. Dale lowered the binoculars, a worried look crossing his face. Stef looked back over at where Jim was standing, before making her way over to the ladder of the RV. "Maybe I should go talk to him?"

She walked across the camp and climbed the hill to where Jim was shovelling dirt out of the ground like his life depended on it. She was exhausted and roasted from just climbing the hill, and she didn't have any idea how this man was still standing upright. "Jim?" she asked, walking towards him, frowning when he didn't answer her. "Jim, if you keep that up, you're gonna end up on the ground. It's awfully hot out here." Still no response, so Stef moved closer. He continued to shovel, the dirt piled up beside where Stef had stopped. "Maybe you should sit down for a bit? Take a drink?" She extended her hand which had a water bottle in it. Jim finally turned around to look at her and shook his head.

"Please, just leave me be?" He turned his attention back to his work, and Stef sighed defeatedly.

"Alright. I'll leave this here then." She placed the water bottle down at her feet, and turned to walk away, glancing over the shoulder at the man. He hadn't stopped to take a drink like she had hoped. She couldn't leave him up here like this. She needed to go to Shane.

* * *

Everything had gone to shit. And it had nothing to do with the walkers. In the space of an hour, Daryl had gone from being ready to be reunited with his brother, and making plans to escape these idiots, to having no brother, losing the Chinaman, and being left with some Mexican punk. When things went bad for him, they really went bad. The guns that they had tried for, after their attempt at retrieving Merle had been unsuccessful, had took them out of the frying pan and into the fire. There had been an incident in the alleyway, when apparently they weren't the only ones after those guns, and the other group had taken Glenn hostage as they left, leaving behind a kid named Miguel. Daryl had managed to put an arrow in one of the groups ass', but that hadn't been good enough to stop him. Now, along with Rick and T-Dog, they were stuck inside a building, with the boy tied to a chair. Rick was trying to find out where the boy and his group had came from, but the boy wasn't for giving up any information. He had a smart mouth on him too and Daryl was getting real sick of his shit. He had an idea that he hoped would get them somewhere. He walked over to the rucksack Glenn had with him before he had been taken, and opened it up. Inside was something he had insisted on bringing with them. The reason, he wasn't really sure of anyway, but it might come in useful now.

He pulled out Merle's hand, and threw it at the boy in the chair, the hand landing nicely in his lap. "See what happened the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl smirked slightly as the boy jumped, and let out a small scream at the hand sitting on top of him. He jerked and fidgeted on the chair until he managed to get it to fall to the floor. "Start with the feet this time," Daryl glared at the boy, glad to see that his face had changed from an overconfident expression to that of fear. Time for some information? He wanted to get the Chinaman back. And the guns. And get back to camp. And now that Merle was gone, back to the only person that might have had the slightest hint of liking for him.

* * *

Jim had been left under the tree. After Stef had left him the first time, she had went straight to Shane and the rest of the camp, and tried to explain that he was in danger up on the hill. She had stayed behind to watch over the camp, as Shane and everyone else gathered to try and get Jim to come down, or at least to rest for a bit. It hadn't been as easy of a task as they had hoped, Lori had explained to Stef when they came back down. Eventually Shane had to take the shovel away from Jim, and use force to handcuff him. He had guided him down the hill and put the cuffs around a tree, so Jim could sit under and be in the shade. Stef brought him over a bottle of water and sat down beside him once she had given him a few sips out of it.

"How are you feeling now?" she asked, noticing the bright red color of his cheeks, imagining the sting that must have been coming from the sun burn.

"Better. I'm sorry for... causing such a commotion." Jim looked over to where the children were sitting. Lori had accused him of scaring the children when he was on the hill, and it was obvious he was feeling terrible about it.

"No harm was done," Stef assured, putting a hand on his shoulder. Now that he was almost back to himself she asked the question she had been wanting to most of the afternoon. "Was there a reason, for your digging?"

Jim looked at her for a moment, before shaking his head. "I told Shane the same thing, I'm not completely sure, but I had a dream."

"A dream?" Jim nodded once. "What about?" Stef asked, curious. Jim's one word answer sent a chill down her spine.

"Death."

* * *

This was the second time they had left that damn retirement home. At least this time it was a bit more successful. They had managed to get Glenn back, and some of the guns they had came for. The Mexican boy had led them to this place with another bunch of tough looking guys, and strangely enough, several elderly men and women. The men had been looking after the older people, and had it not been for one of the old women, there could have been more tragedy today than necessary. The first time they had visited, none of the two groups were backing down for those guns, and T-Dog, Daryl and Rick had come back ready to fight. This old woman, oblivious to whatever had been going on downstairs of the building she was in, had managed to stop a gunfight, and had gotten them Glenn back. Much to his annoyance, the leader of this group, Guillermo, had been forced to explain what they had been doing and why they needed those guns, and Rick and his fucking kind heart had given away half of what was in the bag. He had also offered to bring everyone back to the camp for some reason, but Guillermo refused the offer, stating the elderly were too frail to be moved.

And now they were on their way by to camp, not really any better off. Still no Merle and only half a bag of guns. The men were all tired and irritated, and the sooner they got back into the van and out of the city, the better. But of course, that would have been far too simple for them. It was Daryl who noticed their next problem first. The van was gone. And there was only one person he could think of that would have taken it. Merle. If he had gone back to camp then that was going to be one hell of a treat for everyone there. As Rick and Glenn thought about trying to take another vehicle from the compound they had gotten the last van from, Daryl had started walking. He had no more time and energy to waste on this. The other men soon noticed and caught up to him, realizing he was in no mood to be argued with. The walk was going to be long and quiet, but Daryl was past caring. Two hours later, they were nearing the quarry. But it was at that point that the silence was broken.

The sound of the gunshots in the distance was unmistakable. Each man stopped abruptly and turned to look at each other, before they pulled out their weapons, and ran. Ran like hell. As they stood at the top of the hill that over looked the quarry area, each one of the men felt dread in their stomachs. They could see their people in the distance, but they had company. Walkers. Walkers fucking everywhere. Without planning what they were doing, they were on the move and made the camp in another three or four minutes, and Rick immediately rushed off to find Lori and Carl, shooting whatever got in his way. T-Dog went for the option of circling the outside of the camp, trying to see if he could find any main source of where the walkers were coming from. Glenn had started to pile everyone he could find into a group, and was shooting anything that wasn't living that came near them. Daryl immediately fired an arrow at a walker who was stumbling towards him, pulling it out of it's head as he moved past. He could hear a female screaming in the distance, but he couldn't make out who it was. To save firing his arrows, he pulled out the knife he had been carrying, and ran towards where one of the walkers was latched onto a camp member he had never even seen before. He yanked the knife out as the walker fell to the ground. He knew there was no point in trying to save the person beside it, as half of their arm had been chewed away already. It was only a matter of time before they joined the army of the undead. He turned his head away as he stuck his knife through the head of the rapidly dying person. It would save waiting until he turned.

Daryl took out another five walkers, alternating between knife and crossbow for each one. He ran over to the middle of the camp where most of the group was standing around the person lying on the ground. He was able to make out the blonde hair, and figured it must have been one of the two sisters. That was confirmed when he seen the other run over and crouch down beside the girl, screaming and yelling her name. He cursed slightly, making sure she hadn't attracted anymore walkers to the area. It was then that he noticed the figure running in the woods. He could only make out the outline of the person, but he could tell by the way they were running that they were still alive. He quickly raised his crossbow and ran over to the woods.

He seen the figure stop up ahead of him, two walkers stumbling into his or her path, one further behind than the other. He watched as the person stuck their knife into the first head of the walker, and twisted it around quickly, making the walker fall. The weight however dragged the person forward, springing Daryl into action. It was only when he was metres away he noticed that it was Stef desperately trying to pull her knife out of the first walkers skull. The one that had been behind the first was closing in on her and Daryl got his crossbow ready for action as fast as he could. Just as the walker was about to lunge at her, he wrapped his arm around Stef's waist and pulled her back against his chest, her knife coming up with her, as he fired the crossbow, the arrow shooting straight through the walkers head. "I got ya," he whispered into her ear, holding her still for a moment longer than necessary, before he removed his arm from her waist and gave her a gentle shove so her legs would take her back to camp.

They walked in silence back through the woods and towards their group. Daryl could hear Stef's breathing eventually slow down and he cast a sideways glance at her. Her eyes were dark and she looked truly exhausted. He wasn't sure how she had managed to get entangled in the walkers so far away from everyone else, but he wasn't going to ask. The crunch of the ground from her footsteps stopped and he noticed she had stopped walking. When he turned to look at her she was staring straight ahead. He followed her gaze to land on the young girl lying on the ground outside the RV, her sister crouched over the top of her. A small cry escaped Stef's lips and a tear slowly slid down her cheek. Daryl didn't have a fucking clue what to do, so he pulled her roughly by the arm away from the area, and over towards her tent. "Don' look," he instructed, and opened her tent for her, pushing her in gently.

He didn't want to invade her space, and he wasn't exactly in his comfort zone here, so once she was in the tent, he closed it behind her. Not entirely sure what he was doing, he sat down in the space outside her tent. He'd sit here and wait until Glenn came. Then her friend could keep her company. But he wanted that to be his job. Hell, maybe he'd even sit here all night.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

It was still dark outside. That was all Stef could tell when she opened her eyes. Her eyes stung slightly, thanks to the crying she'd been doing before she must have drifted off to sleep. She noticed Glenn wasn't in the tent either, and figured it must be early morning. Her eyes still felt heavy as she struggled out of her sleeping bag. She felt sick, cold, tired and upset. Not a fantastic mix, really. Death was half expected nowadays, but she hadn't expected it to happen to Amy. Who had her whole life ahead of her. She was smiley, and cheery, and... dead. She noticed her blood covered knife on the floor of the tent and immediately kicked it away out of sight. Whether there were walkers outside or not, she wasn't ready for picking that thing up again. After hearing the screams of Amy last night, she had ran back towards the middle of the camp from where she had been in search of some books to read to the children that she had been keeping in her tent, only to be surrounded by walkers emerging from the Peletier's tent. She had ran without thinking, and ended up in the woods. Which would have been alright, as she was only left with two walkers, had she been able to get that stupid knife out of the first ones skull. And she would have probably died out there. Had it not been for a certain person. As she lifted up the entrance to her tent, and stepped out, that exact person was sitting beside the tent, wiping arrows with a rag.

"Daryl?" she asked, confused, stepping out fully and kneeling down beside the man. He looked at her quickly, before turning his attention back to his work. "What're you doing? What time is it?" There were still people chatting over in the middle of the camp, Stef had noticed, but she couldn't make out who they were.

He put the rag he was using down to the side, and the arrow back into the pile he had built up. There was still one of his arrows out there somewhere in a walkers head, but he had been more focused on getting Stef back to her tent at that point. "I uh.. just thought I'd wait here 'til Glenn came back. It's bout eleven I guess, you only been in there for a half hour or so." Stef had a sudden rush of emotion that this man had been sitting out here, protecting her in a way.

"Oh," Stef had thought she had slept most of the night, but apparently not. "Thanks, for y'know, earlier," Stef studied Daryl carefully for a moment before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. Daryl immediately turned his head to the other side and looked out to where the camp fire was burning away slowly. He wasn't used to contact that was so tender, and Stef retreated back into her own sitting position, becoming quiet.

When he finally looked back at her, his eyes moved down to where her knife was normally settled on her belt, the one that had nearly gotten her killed, and he frowned when he realized it was missing. If more walkers piled into the camp now, she couldn't do very much to protect herself. He thought for a moment before coming up with a better alternative to what she had been using. "Should get Shane to give ya a gun, won't have a repeat of earlier. We got a few in Atlanta."

Stef immediately shook her head, and looked down at her hands. "No."

"Why not?" Daryl asked, not understanding her dislike for the weapon. "Sure ya'd be more than capable." He'd heard the older blonde sister asking Shane about having a gun once, but she seemed to be the kind of person who'd be a bit trigger happy. Daryl imagined that Stef would respect the gun, and only use it when she or someone else was in danger. When she didn't answer him he spoke again. "Could teach ya how to use it.. or somethin'.."

Stef swallowed as she felt a lump in her throat. "My dad was shot.. I've been" she tried to think of how to put it without sounding completely pathetic, "afraid of guns since then," she admitted. "Which is stupid these days, I know."

Daryl snorted out a small laugh at this. He knew he probably shouldn't have, but it escaped before he'd really thought about it. "Hate to break it to ya, sweetheart, but half the worlds been shot in the last month."

When Stef realized what he had thought she meant, she gave him a weak smile and shook her head slowly. "No, when I was little, I mean."

"Lucky for some," Daryl muttered quietly after a moment of silence, not meaning for her to hear it. But when he looked at her again, it was obvious she had heard him as a frown spread across her face and she looked at him disapprovingly.

"Why would you say that?" Stef asked him quietly. She knew from their first encounter that Daryl hadn't been fond of his father, but she couldn't imagine why he would have wished death on him. "Surely he can't have been that bad?"

A flood of anger suddenly washed over Daryl. What was he even trying for here? Stef could never have understood how much Daryl hated his father. He had spent the first few years of his life trying to make him proud and happy, only to be rewarded with beatings. When he wasn't feeling neglected, he felt unloved and unwanted. Sure, there was Merle, who had the decency to care for him a little, but he didn't make up for a mother and father. "You didn't know 'im," Daryl spat angrily, and got himself up onto his feet picking up the arrows as he did so. "And you don' know me."

He started to walk away, but only managed a few steps before he heard a small sniffle behind him. He turned his head, but not his body, to notice another tear slide down her cheek. "I... I don't." Her voice was pained, and Daryl felt a feeling of regret. He hadn't meant to upset her. She had been nothing but kind to him, didn't look down her nose at him like most of the camp, and had actually tried to conversate with him. She had shown him respect, and she at least deserved a little of that back.

Stef cursed herself in her mind for crying again. The second time in a few hours, must have made her look great. All the events of the day were coming back, and it was hard to keep on a happy face. She didn't even want to start to think about how Andrea was feeling. Daryl was unsure of how to proceed, and felt completely out of character, but he turned and walked back, before crouching down in front of Stef.

"Don' do that," he instructed gruffly, reaching out to cup her face with his rough hand, and wiping away the lingering tear with his thumb. He could have sworn she pushed further into his touch, but decided he'd just been imagining things. He fought the urge to push away the strand of hair in her eyes, that would have been crossing a line. A line more for him, than anyone else. "Should get some more sleep," he suggested, getting up once more and letting her face fall from his grasp. He walked away again without turning back, and managed to make it further than the few steps he had before.

He had been annoyed again when she hadn't pulled away from him or told him to leave her alone, because that would have meant she wasn't at all interested in him, and he could stop giving a damn what the she thought. But she hadn't. And although that made him annoyed, more than anything it made him pleased.

* * *

The mood in camp the next morning couldn't even begin to be described. Nobody had hardly spoken a word to each other, and no one had touched the breakfast that T-Dog had made for them. Andrea was sat beside the body of Amy on the ground, where apparently she had been situated the whole night. Glenn and T-Dog were off in the distance, throwing the bodies of walkers onto a large fire that they had built, and Daryl could just be seen swinging a pick-axe into the heads of the ones still littered around camp. Stef and Dale had taken up watch duty atop the RV, but they hadn't exchanged more than ten words since they had both gotten there. Stef watched Lori approach the older sister below her whose expression remained blank as her focus never left her sister lying in front of her. Lori slowly walked away and headed over to where Rick was standing, swapping a few words with him, before he started to make his way towards Andrea.

Stef wasn't sure who was in the wrong here. Andrea needed to mourn the loss of her sister, which she was clearly struggling with, but at the same time, Rick knew what was going to happen to the girl in a matter of time, and he was only thinking about the safety of the camp. Because as soon as Amy turned, it would have been more than simple for her to take a bite out of her sister, only inches away, and that could set off a chain of deaths again. As quickly as Rick had walked over to Andrea, she had pulled a gun and was pointing it straight in his face. Dale made his way quickly to the ladder, concern for the girl all over his face, but Stef reached out her arm to hold him back.

"She won't do anything.. she's just not ready to let go of her yet." She shook her head, as she watched Rick walk away below.

"I just wish she would talk to someone," Dale said sadly. He was finding it hard to cope with the young girl's death too, as she had been with him before all this started and he had subconsciously made it his job to try and protect her and her sister.

"Just give her time." Stef assured, speaking from experience. She wasn't sure how long it had taken for her to interact with people again after losing someone so close to her. Andrea would have so many things going through her head right now, that someone trying to connect with her would be near impossible.

* * *

An hour or so later, Stef had joined the men and Jacqui as they piled up the bodies, trying to sort out who had wandered into their camp the night before, and who had been a member of the 'family' they had made here. Daryl and Morales pulled one of the bodies of the people who had been living with them towards the fire, and Glenn ran forward instantly, to stop them. "What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there!" Glenn was pointing at the pile of people they had been planning to bury, not burn. Glenn wasn't one to usually make his opinion so vocal, so this was obviously a matter that really got to him.

Daryl scoffed and shook his head, continuing to pull at the feet of the body he had in his hands, even although Morales had dropped the front end. "What's the difference? They're all infected." Even although deep down they all knew that he was right, Glenn was having none of it, and in a moment nobody expected, he moved forward to Daryl and pulled the body out of his hands.

"Our people go in that row over there!" Glenn was all but yelling now, and he had started dragging the body away from the fire. He wasn't having much success with it, and Stef could tell that it was heavier than he had hoped. They were all surprised at his sudden outburst and she had realized they were more interested in watching him, than actually helping him. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there." At this, Stef moved forward, and lifted the arms of the body Glenn had in his hands, and helped him move over to the 'bury pile'. She caught Daryl looking at her, as Glenn thanked her quietly.

"Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this coming." Daryl muttered to nobody in particular, throwing the other walkers that had caused this disaster into the fire, seemingly taking pleasure in each one as they went up in flames before him. Stef noticed Jim clutch at his side, before Jacqui pulled him away for a bit. She thought maybe he was still recovering from the sunstroke, and this was putting a strain on him. He hadn't spoken much since the attack last night, but then again, he wasn't really a talkative person.

She picked up another walker, and took a long look at the face. This hadn't been one of their camp members. The face was far too decayed to have only been dead for around twelve hours, and from what was left, she could tell that they weren't someone she had seen around before. She picked up the feet, and dragged the body, slowly closing the space between them and the fire. As she was almost there, the weight became lighter, as she noticed Daryl had lifted the head up. She silently nodded her thanks and they both continued to work together until there were only a few walkers remaining in the pile. As they went to lift the next one, they could hear Jacqui shouting out, the words making them both drop their end of the walker simultaneously.

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!"

They both rushed over to where the pair was stood, shortly joined by everyone else in the camp who had heard Jacqui's revelation. Daryl insisted that Jim show them the wound, and Jim backed up warily, picking up a shovel as he did so. He held it out in front of him, as the two concerned ex-cops tried to calm the situation. He was scared, and it was only natural. He didn't need everyone coming to look at him like he was a museum exhibit. Daryl eventually reached out for Jim's shirt and pulled it up, exposing the angry wound on his stomach. Everyone's face dropped again, all of them losing the hope they had that Jacqui had been mistaken and Jim had simply cut himself on something or gotten the blood from a walkers body.

But they all knew too well by now what a walker bite looked like. When it became infected with their.. disease.. how it went with a black color around the edges, and the liquid that seeped out as the illness spread through their body. It was only a matter of time before Jim would join the undead, and he seemed to know that. Although he uttered the phrase "I'm OK," at least five time, the camp weren't assured, and neither was Jim. How many more people were they going to lose?

Shortly after, Jacqui had taken Jim inside the RV, to sit and try and make him feel as comfortable as possible. The pain he was feeling was already clear. From the early days, they had figured out the worse the injury, the quicker the transformation to a walker was. Jim's wound wasn't massive compared to some of the bodies they'd burned, but it wasn't a simple scratch either. The rest of the group were standing around the campfire, trying to plan what to do next. Daryl stepped forward, irritation at the group evident in his tone. "I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Andrea wasn't paying attention to the group, but Stef thought if she had of heard that she would be mentally torturing Daryl in her mind right now.

Dale nodded his head eventually and glanced over at Amy before speaking quietly so only the people standing around him could hear. "I hate to say it…" he paused for a minute and screwed his face up slightly, as if he was confused by his own thoughts, "I never thought I would… but maybe Daryl's right." The younger man looked over at him at this moment, as if he hadn't been expecting anyone to agree with him. Dale's main reason for doing so was that he didn't want something to happen to Andrea also.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Stef reminded him moving forwards from where she had been stood beside Glenn. Jim was still alive at the minute, and therefore still capable of emotions and feeling pain. She thought Dale would have been one of the first people to stick up for him, seeing as how they had bonded so well in their time here. "He's a sick man. He needs help."

Rick agreed, hoping that his wife and his best friend would be on their wavelength too. "We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"

"Ain't no help he can get," Daryl eyed Stef before turning his attention to Rick. "Line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be."

"What if we find help? Maybe the C.D.C. were working on a cure?" Stef looked at Rick, hoping the man would listen to her idea. Although no-one else had exactly said they agreed with Daryl and Dale, no-one had said what they were thinking of doing was wrong. "What if the C.D.C. is still up and running, maybe we could head there?"

Shane seemed to think about this for a moment before furrowing his eyebrows together. "Man, that is a long shot." Rick wondered for a second if Shane didn't like the idea, or if Shane didn't like the idea of doing something Rick thought was right. His friend had been acting strange around him, since he had came back, and it was something he had most definitely picked up on.

"Maybe not," Rick pointed out, noticing Stef let out a small relieved sigh. "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the C.D.C. at all costs, wouldn't they? I think she's right. I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection…"

Shane tried to argue that Fort Benning might have been a better option. If her directions weren't too far off, Stef calculated that might have been 100 miles in the opposite direction. She didn't know if Jim had it in him to travel that far. At least they could make it to the CDC quicker, hopefully, and Jim might have been in with a chance. They were too focused on discussing the pros and cons of each location suggested that no-one notice Daryl had picked up the pickaxe and started to walk off towards the RV until he spoke up again. "Y'all go looking for aspirin, do what ya need to do. Someone needs ta have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"

Rick, without any hesitation, pulled out the gun and pointed it straight at Daryl's head making him stop walking abruptly. Stef's breath caught in her throat at that moment. She didn't agree with Daryl in this particular situation, but she didn't want him hurt, or dead. "We don't kill the living." Rick stated, not leaving it open for any argument.

Daryl stared him down for a moment before dropping the pickaxe to the ground. "Funny comin' from a man who jus' put a gun to my head." And with that, he turned and walked away to the little camp he had set up for himself some distance away from everyone else. No-one said a word, and they all broke apart quietly, and walked away in separate directions.

* * *

Less than an hour later and the inevitable had happened. On hearing the gunshot ring out through camp, and the loud sobbing of a woman, everyone knew that Amy had finally became death. Luckily, no damage had been done in the time between her reanimation and the time it had taken for Andrea to put her sister into a final sleep. Dale had been the first to her side to comfort her, and everyone else had looked on as she prepared her sister for burial. And now they were stood on the hill where Jim had dug out the holes the day before, apparently having had more of a premonition than a dream.

The camp watched silently, as Andrea struggled into one of the holes with her sister's body, refusing help from Dale or anyone else that came near her. "I can do it." And with that, another one of them was gone, and death had taken victory with the eighteen year old girl. One by one, the bodies of the other camp members were lowered into the ground, a few words of remembrance said for each, before they left and went back to their tasks, knowing this wasn't something they could linger on for long, or they could end up buried next.

* * *

Daryl hadn't seen a point in attending the so called 'funeral'. He thought it was pointless anyway, and burning them would have been safer and less time and energy wasting. He had driven some of the bodies up onto the hill before coming back to the camp, and getting ready for his watch shift. He was still majorly unhappy about the walker-to-be in the RV underneath him, but it was something that had been settled. Jim was not to be killed. He made his way on top of the RV to one of the folding chairs, and sat down in it, picking up the rifle Dale left up there and settling it in his lap. He rubbed his face over his hands in tiredness more than anything else and hoped that his watch shift would fly in quickly so he could get a few hours sleep.

Her heard footsteps coming up the ladder, and turned to be faced with Stef looking at him, not saying a word before moving over to the chair on the opposite side. He hadn't missed the fleeting look of disappointment on her face earlier when he hadn't agreed with her, but he wasn't for backing down over this. It had been confirmed by Shane earlier, that the group was in fact going to head for the C.D.C., leaving in the morning, which Daryl thought was a fucking stupid idea. Daryl lifted his hand and chewed at the thumbnail for a moment before regarding the girl behind him. She hadn't picked up the binoculars, but instead was staring out into the space in front of her.

"Ya really think the C.D.C.'s gonna help?" Daryl finally asked, annoyed that he was annoyed at the silence between them.

Stef lowered her voice, aware that Jim could probably hear them if he was still awake in the RV below them, just so that it was audible enough for Daryl to hear. "Honestly, I don't know. But I don't think we're going to get any help staying here." Even although she wasn't facing him, Daryl seen her hand gesturing to their surroundings. "If there's any hope... I think he deserves us to try for it."

Daryl found herself silently agreeing with her words in his mind. But not in relation to Jim. In relation to him and her. Maybe he was overthinking things, and she was just being friendly, like she was to everyone else in the camp, but he hadn't forgotten about last night. She had been upset when he had pulled away from her, same as today when he hadn't been on her side. And still in his mind was how she had let him hold onto her like that. And for that, as far away from logical as it was, he tried to make himself see her way of thinking.

"S'pose so."


	8. Chapter 8

**And... Season 1 is done! I know it's been quick, but the reason is I had more ideas for Season 2, and originally wanted to start there, but I thought I could establish relationships better beginning with Season 1.. Season 2 will hopefully be a lot longer! Thanks again for all the reviews, follows and favorites, and I hope you enjoy how Season 1 ends. Next chapter will hopefully be up tomorrow! :)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

The group's numbers were going down again. For once, it wasn't due to them being killed. On the morning when everyone was ready to leave for the C.D.C., Morales and his family had decided that they weren't going with the group. They had family that they wanted to try and find to see if they had survived. Rick had given Morales one of the guns, and Shane had handed him a box of ammo that was half full. Everyone said their goodbyes, especially painful for the children who had become good friends in the space of time they had been here. Eliza handed over her doll to Sophia who had tears streaming down her cheek. Stef gave Miranda a quick hug, as they all piled into their car. The rest of the group went to their own vehicles. Jim was in the back of the RV with Jacqui taking care of him, and Dale and Glenn up front. The Grimes family took another car, sharing with Sophia and Carol. T-Dog shared with Andrea, Stef went with Shane, and Daryl took his truck alone, with Merle's motorcycle on the back, after he refused to leave it at the Quarry. They all pulled away from what had been their home for the last month or so, and onto the road, as the Morales car turned in a different direction in front of them.

"How long have you and Rick known each other?" Stef asked, hoping to make the journey fly in quicker. Twenty Questions was a bit far out, but she could at least break the silence. Truthfully, she had wanted to ride with Daryl, but she was afraid asking him would make him think she was constantly in his space.

"Since high school, I guess," he answered, thinking back. "Why'd you ask?"

"You just seem close. And after what you did for his family.." She watched his expression hoping she wasn't pushing it too far here. Shane had changed since Rick came back, probably because it meant no more sneaking off into the bushes with Lori. "You must really care for them."

"I do." Was Shane's only answer, not going into much detail. They were going to have to stop anyway, as Dale had honked his horn and everyone else had pulled into the side of the road. There weren't going to be any other cars needing past, but they still felt odd to park in the middle of the road. Dale was standing outside the RV, shaking his head at the mechanics of it, as it produced steam from the front.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I said I needed the one from the cube van." Dale moaned, unpleased that the men who had went back in search of Merle hadn't held up their end of the deal for Dale's tools. "It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape." The men noticed there was a gas station not too far away, and they were going to try and see what they could find there. Stef got out of the car, so T-Dog and Shane could hopefully get them their ticket out of here, as the rest of the group hung around on the roadside. Rick suddenly appeared from the RV where he had been checking on Jim, with a somber expression.

"Jim wants to be left here."

Half an hour later, and Jim once again was underneath a tree. Shane and T-Dog had brought what they needed, and had set to work on fixing the car. The group had formed a line to say goodbye to Jim. Although it was sad, most of them didn't feel as bad as they had with Amy, as they had time to come to terms with the fact they were going to have to part with Jim. After Jacqui had finished saying goodbye, she walked away tearfully, and Stef went up to him, kneeling down beside where he was sat, much like yesterday.

"Feels like we've been here before, eh?" Stef joked softly, putting a hand on the older mans shoulder. He gave her a smile, but she could tell the pain was almost too much for him. "Are you sure this is what you want, Jim? The C.D.C. might have something.."

"Oh no. Christ… My bones… My bones are like glass. Every little bump… God, this ride is killing me," Jim shook his head slowly, before taking his time reaching up to grab her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Thank you.. for trying for me."

"I just wish there was more we could have done." Stef admitted quietly, before pulling him into a hug. She stood and brushed off her jeans standing back and giving him a final smile. "Goodbye, Jim."

* * *

The C.D.C. was only a minutes walk away. They had finally made it to the compound, and parked their vehicles in a line beside the large expanse of grass in front of the building. Stef and Rick were the first to walk towards the door, since this had been their idea. There was no sign of life, and that worried every one of them to no end. They had left all their stuff in the cars for the time being, and were trying to work out how to get into the place. The shutter was down over what would have been the main entrance, and everything seemed to be locked. The place was filled with corpses, and there were flies everywhere, which no-one was pleased about.

"There's nobody here." Shane stated, turning around ready to move back to his car.

"Why are the shutters down then?" Stef asked looking all around to see if there was something that looked like a button or anything to open them. Daryl alerted them from behind that there were walkers in the area, and the men, apart from Rick, did their best at taking them out. Daryl ran over to Rick and shoved him slightly.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl yelled angrily. Stef felt guilty, because it had been her idea as much as Rick's. Shane stepped forward and pulled Daryl away.

"He made a call!" Shane wasn't entirely happy at their situation, but Rick didn't deserve all the shit. He had been trying to find something for the group to keep them safe, and it was more than Daryl or any of the rest had done.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl spat back, putting another arrow through the head of a walker. Shane tried to convince the rest of the group to move away and get back in the cars, but Rick was standing firm. He had caught movement in one of the cameras. Rick was convinced there was someone in there, and he was damned if he was going to be leaving this place. Even Stef had apparently given up now, which pushed Rick further.

"Please, we're desperate.. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left... If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" Rick continued to yell at the camera, as Lori and Shane started to pull him away. He seen there were still walkers around out the corner of his eye, and made a final remark. "You're killing us!"

The group immediately froze in place and everyone became silent. They turned around to realize that the doors to the C.D.C. had opened and they were drowned in light. It was almost like looking into sort of a heaven, with the bright light pouring out, and the thought of possible safety behind the doors. None of the group stayed in place too long and they all rushed towards the entrance, piling in together, and moving closer to one another when the doors shut behind them. They were met with nothing but an empty hallway, walls and floors all a bright white. There was a clinical feel to the place, but they had half expected that more than a homely setup.

A noise startled everyone to look over at where a man was emerging from an elevator at the end of the hallway. He was dressed in a white labcoat, his blonde hair, just skimming over the tops of his eyes. He had a business look, and everybody noticed the large gun in his hands. He raised it slightly letting these people know that he wasn't afraid to use it should any of them be a threat to him and the building he had safety in here. Stef stepped back a bit, which Daryl had noticed, and he moved his body so that he was shielding her in a way.

"Any of you infected?" The man asked, looking at each one of them in turn, probably looking for telltale signs of the illness, or cuts and scratches visible on anyone. He was apparently in the same mindset as Daryl here. 'Zero tolerance for walkers or them to be'.

Rick stepped forward, slowly, not making any sudden movements. He was aware his gun was showing from his uniform and realized how they must have looked to this man. "A member of our group was, he didn't make it." Everyone thought back to Jim, who had been left on the roadside. He was the main reason they had came here anyway, but it looked like he wouldn't of made it past the entrance had he gotten this far.

"What are you doing here?" The man asked, lowering his weapon slightly, when he took in the scared faces of some of the women, and the children. He was sure he was one of the only people still alive, and had almost been ready to put a bullet through his head the night before. He sure as hell hadn't been expecting visitors, but he imagined they weren't just stopping by for tea and biscuits. There had to be a reason for the group to be standing in front of him. "What do you want?"

"A chance," Rick replied simply. "To survive."

"That's asking a lot these days," the man pointed out before moving closer again to the group. Rick nodded his head in agreement, and the other man let out a sigh. Sophia was practically hiding behind her mother, and Carl looked starving and exhausted. As the man took in the faces of these people, he realized they weren't living as well as he was. They obviously hadn't been as well fed, or rested, and he had to at least offer them a little help. That's what his wife would have done.

"You all submit to blood tests." He couldn't have anyone come in who might have been hiding the infection, and putting everything at risk. Although they still weren't sure whatever was causing this, they could still check that their bloodwork came back clean. "That's the price of entry." He looked at them again for a moment, standing there, with nothing but weapons in their hands. He wondered if they had any belongings with them or if they had been living on nothing. They certainly looked like it. He figured he'd best ask anyway. "You got any stuff to bring in you go do it now. Once the door closes, it stays that way." He was surprised when most of them rushed for the doors, obviously having more stuff with them than he thought.

Stef went to get her rucksack out of Shane's car, but Daryl held her back with his arm. "Stay," he instructed quietly, following the rest of the men out to get whatever they could. There were still walkers outside, and Daryl didn't want another 'knife stuck in the head' incident.

Moments later and all the men were back inside with all the belongings they had retrieved. Daryl handed Stef's rucksack over to her and she responded with a smile and a 'thanks'. Rick was introducing each one of the group to the man, who had now been identified as Professor Edwin Jenner, as he led them towards the elevator he had came from. Everyone piled into the small elevator, and Jenner hit some buttons on the wall before they started to move. Daryl questioned the gun he was holding, and Jenner gave a small laugh before looking around him. "There were a whole bunch of weapons lying around, so I learned how to use it. But you lot don't look very dangerous." Jenner turned to look at Carl who was still looking worried about the whole situation. "Except you. I'll have to keep an eye on you." Carl gave him a small, shy smile and everyone else remained silent as they reached their destination.

They were in a long hallway, which was underground, and not helping the slightly claustrophobic Carol. There was a large door at the end of the hallway, which was apparently where they were heading. Jenner once again spoke to the woman named Vi, he had recently asked to seal the main entrance. "Vi! Turn on the lights in the main room, will you?" As the lights came on, the group learned they had arrived in a large room where a multitude of computers and workstations were set up. "Welcome to Zone 5." The room was impressive and filled with technology that Stef wouldn't even have had the first clue what to do with. A large screen filled one wall, but it was blank at the moment. It was then when Stef noticed the lack of personnel in the area. Obviously she wasn't the only one, as Rick and the rest of the group had confused looks on their faces.

"Where are the others?" Rick asked, being the one to voice everybody's question. "Researchers, employees?"

Jenner looked at them sadly for a moment, not saying anything before he put on as best of a smile as he could manage and shook his head. "It's just me here. Just me left." The group had been expecting workers everywhere, hurrying around trying to find a cure, learning what this disease was, finding ways to prevent and control it. But there was nothing. Except from Jenner. And whomever he had been talking to. Stef had wondered if he had forgotten about 'Vi' when Lori asked about the woman. Jenner chuckled quietly and looked up at the ceiling. "Vi! Say hello to our guests. Tell them ... welcome." When the voice spoke again, they picked up this time how computerized it had sounded, and they discovered that Vi, was not in fact, an actual person. Jenner was the only hope they had.

It wasn't long before he had dragged them all into another room, and sat them down in a row of chairs, lined up so they could have their blood taken one by one. Stef wasn't afraid of needles but she was afraid that most of the group were feeling so frail that by taking a needles worth of blood from them, they might have ended up on a heap in the floor. Her time had came and she had managed to keep her face as straight as possible when the needle was pulling the blood from her body. When Andrea was the last in line, and she had struggled to stay upright, Jenner had learned just how hungry there were, and how short of food they had been.

* * *

It was like all their Christmases had came at once. They found themselves sat round a large table in what had been the C.D.C.'s dining room when people occupied the building. There was a large kitchen, and the supplies in it would last them at least a good couple of months before they would have to start thinking about going out and looking for more. T-Dog, excited at the prospects of working in a kitchen again was straight in, cooking up whatever he could find, coming up with a feast that could have fed a small army. Glenn and Dale had found a wine cupboard, and there were bottles of various kinds all over the table, along with a bottle of whisky, much more to Daryl's liking.

Stef was unsure whether or not it was due to the alcohol, but the spirits of everyone had risen dramatically, and smiles and laughter were seen on most people's faces. Andrea didn't say much during the duration of the dinner, but a hint of a smile was back on her face. The food seemed to be picking everyone up, and none of them had felt so full in a long time. Even Daryl was grinning, his hand wrapped around the bottle he had claimed all for himself.

Dale was filling up everyone's wine glasses around the table, and a half smile crossed his face as he hovered over Carl. Lori's eyes widened as she realized his intention and she quickly shot her hand out, covering Carl's glass. Dale chuckled from behind them. "There is nothing wrong with having fun, you know! Life is hard enough as it. And you know, in Italy and France, children are allowed to drink a little wine with dinner." The group looked at Lori who was not for moving her hand anytime soon. She stated Carl could have wine then if he went to Italy or France.

"It won't kill him. He can taste it," Rick smiled, as Carl began to get excited. Lori looked half amused and half annoyed, but she finally removed her hand from the top of the glass, and Dale filled it up. Carl picked it up, examining it for a moment, before looking to his mother again. She gave a short nod of her head, and Carl took a sip of the liquid. Everyone burst out into laughter as Carl grimaced at the stuff, and spit the rest back into the glass, before his mother took it away with a smile and left it for herself.

"That's my boy," she smiled, the 'I was right, you were wrong' look on her face as she turned back to Rick. Shane suggested that Carl stick to soda pop in the future, to which he nodded his head enthusiastically. Stef looked over at Carol and Sophia sitting quietly, and smiled in their direction. Stef held a hand out with her glass, and offered it to Sophia. Her mother insisted it was alright if she tried it the same as Carl had, but Sophia politely refused. She had been quiet since the Morales' kids had left, obviously missing her friends.

Glenn was drinking quickly from the bottle he had, not even bothering to use a glass anymore. When someone suggested he might want to slow down, Daryl pushed the bottle back across the table to Glenn and protested. "Not you Glenn. Keep drinkin' little man, I wanna see how red your face can get.." Half of the group looked shocked and this, and half of them laughed, but Glenn was so far gone he didn't seem to mind. He just giggled to himself before taking another swig.

Rick suddenly stopped whatever he was doing, and called the attention of the group, by tapping a piece of cutlery against his glass. "It seems we have not thanked our host properly." Everyone looked over to Jenner and suddenly realized how he had separated himself from the rest of the group. In an instant, everyone had called out their own version of thanks to the man, now looking very embarrassed, who simply raised his glass in acknowledgement, before turning his attention back to his own food. There was something off about Edwin Jenner, but nobody could pinpoint it, and at this point, nobody could care.

Shane spoke up then, his expression dimming the mood slightly. "When are you going to tell us what happened here, doc?" It wasn't what anyone really wanted to hear about right now, but Shane had argued that that's why Rick and Stef had brought them here. For answers. Which was true, but surely that could have waited until morning. They were safe here for the night at least. Jenner got up to stand over the group and took a deep breath, recalling the story of the C.D.C. at the start of the outbreak. He had told how many people had left to go and join their families back home, and how some of them had 'opted out'. People had killed themselves in fear of what was going to happen to them in the future. Jenner had explained his decision to stay was to continue his work on his research, and he had promised his wife he would do whatever he could. No-one asked any questions about his wife, unsure if Jenner knew her fate.

"You sure know how to kill the mood," Glenn groaned to Shane as the group all got up to be shown to where they were going to sleep for the night. Jenner led them down yet another long hall, filled with what looked like they would have once been offices. They all had sofas in them, and it would be like a luxury bed compared to the hard floor that they had been used to lately. Stef picked out her room, and was about to enter when what Jenner said next made her attention zoom back to him.

"If you shower, go easy on the hot water."

* * *

It was almost like a race between Stef, T-Dog and Glenn to see who could get to the showers first. Glenn was unsteady on his feet, which made him fall behind quickly, much to the other two's amusement. Once they finally reached the shower room, they all made noises of excitement. Lined along the walls outside the shower cubicles were moisturizer, body washes, hair products and soaps. Also, beside the mirrors there were a selection of toothpastes and mouthwashes. Normally, the idea of using someone else's toiletries would have been a big no-no for Stef, but after so long with nothing, it wasn't even given a second thought. The only thing she wasn't up for was using someone else's toothbrush, so she used the sleeve of the t-shirt she was taking off to apply toothpaste. Not brilliant, but still damn good.

Everyone avoiding Jenner's warning to take it easy with the hot water, the room soon filled up with steam, as Stef stood under her shower for a good ten minutes before even attempting to use any of the products they had found. The hair products felt so good at washing out all of the grime that had been gathering up in her now, fairly long hair. The body wash had a minty smell to it, and she used up nearly three quarters of the bottle. She was slow to get out of the shower, and wrapped herself in one of the clean towels Jenner had provided them with. She couldn't believe how much this man was like a savior to them right now.

Daryl was left sitting alone at the table in the dining area, as everyone else had rushed off to shower. He would quickly jump into one of them before he went to bed, but he wasn't going to start doing something he never did before, by spending ages in one. He'd let the clean freaks have their fun before he ventured that way. He opened a fresh bottle of whisky from the stash Glenn and Dale had found, and took a long swig from the bottle, smiling to himself as the warmth hit him. The bottle had just left his lips when a voice startled him from behind.

"Not a fan of sharing then?" Stef was smiling at him from the doorway. She had clean clothes on, and her hair was making them damp around the top, from it still being wet. She slowly walked towards him, trying to keep as upright as possible as she did so. Daryl had noticed she had been going through the wine pretty quickly earlier.

"Only if you shut the door, two people can get through this quick enough, don' need anyone else drainin' it." Daryl normally would have minded sharing, but not tonight. With her. Damn it, there it was again.

"Relax, I only came for some water before bed." Stef bypassed where he was sitting, and went for one of the water bottles, picking it up, and taking a long drink before she moved towards him. "Still think this place was the wrong call then?"

"Can't complain too much," he smiled slightly, lifting the bottle in his hand. "Sure I can't interest ya in some?"

"Nah, I'll probably feel bad enough tomorrow. I can't drink with good looking guys anyway, tend to embarrass myself." Wait.. what?! Daryl raised his eyebrows wondering if he had heard correctly, clearly not being far off as her face had tinted bright red. "Oh, shit. See what I mean?" The alcohol had obviously loosened their mouths, as well as minds. Stef quickly headed back towards the doorway, taking the water bottle as she went. "Night, Daryl," she said quietly, as she disappeared from his view.

Daryl stared at the doorway, an amused expression on his face as he took another long drink from the bottle. This place was turning out to be much better than he'd thought.

* * *

The next morning, Stef was sat beside Glenn, rubbing his back gently, as he was bent over the plate T-Dog had put in front of him. Alcohol clearly didn't agree with Glenn. She'd had a small headache this morning herself, but it had passed. Obviously Glenn was far less used to this. Everyone who had hit the alcohol hard last night was feeling the effects, and Jenner had kindly left them out some medication. "Protein is good for hangovers," Stef pointed out nodding at the powdered eggs as Glenn lifted his head. He made a pained noise which made Stef laugh slightly as he rubbed at his head. Breakfast went past pretty quickly after Dr. Jenner had arrived, everyone more interested in the answers Shane had been after last night. Shane had came to breakfast with several scratch marks down his neck. He claimed he had done it in his sleep, and everyone looked at him skeptically, but no-one pushed the matter any further.

Jenner soon took them to the room they had been in momentarily last night with all the computers and the big screen in the middle of them all. He instructed Vi to bring up 'Test Subject 19', as the big screen came to life and it was filled with the image of a brain. "Few people have had the chance to see what I'll show you." Everyone looked at the image in wonder, as Vi started to play the video. The brain suddenly became overrun with lights, in every stem, illuminating the whole room. The children were amazed, and the adults all looked to Jenner for an explanation. "That's the life of an individual, experiences, memories.."

"What makes us unique, right?" Stef asked from where she was sitting watching carefully.

"That's right." Jenner smiled, looking back at the screen. He pointed to all the lines on the screen that were going in every direction in and around the brain. "These are synapses, impulses in the brain that carry messages, determine each of our thoughts, our words." Stef noticed Daryl look downright lost at the explanations and fought the urge to laugh a little. "Since our birth until our death."

"Who was it?" Andrea asked, signaling to the person on the screen.

"Test Subject 19. Someone who had been bitten and infected. And volunteered for studying the evolution of the disease. Vi, scan to the first event." The images on the screen faded, and were replaced with the brain again, something red overtaking it and putting the brain into darkness. Obviously whatever created the walkers outside, then.

"What's going on here?" Glenn asked, still rubbing at his temples, and slowly sipping on the coffee T-Dog had made for him.

"It attacks the brain like meningitis. It causes adrenal hemorrhage. The brain activity ceases, followed by the principal organs. And then death. Everything you were, everything you could be.. disappears forever." No-one said much as Lori told Jenner how Andrea had lost her sister. Jenner nodded and mentioned he had suffered his own loss, as the computer scanned forward again. This time, the brain filled the screen again, but along with it was a dim red light.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked, holding Carl tight in her arms.

"Not the brain. Just the brain stem. It allows them to get up and move," Jenner explained, turning away from the screen slightly, as everyone else notice the unusual movement on it. The head had been broken up into two parts.

"What was that?" Carol asked, looking worried.

Andrea sighed, before turning to face Jenner. "He shot his patient in the head, right?" Jenner only nodded before commanding Vi to turn the power off on the screen and the workstations. Everything went dark, and they all looked to see what was next. Jenner went on to tell that they didn't even truly know what was causing this, or what it even was. Not what they had been wanting to hear when they came here. Daryl picked up the bottle of whatever he had brought to breakfast, and headed back in the direction of his room, Lori and Carol following with Carl and Sophia.

Dale suddenly walked up to the professor from where he had been standing. "Professor Jenner, I don't mean to trouble you with all these questions, but I have just one more for you. That clock on the wall, it's counting down." Either no-one had noticed the clock until Dale pointed it out, or they hadn't given it any thought until now, when Jenner suddenly looked anxious. "What happens when it gets to zero?

"The ... The generator will run out of fuel." Jenner seemed reluctant to answer, and kept his gaze focused on something on the floor. When Rick asked him what that meant he didn't answer, so Rick turned to Vi for answers instead.

The mechanical voice sounded a hundred times more chilling as it spoke this time. "Facility wide decontamination will occur."

* * *

This was how they were all going to die. They had survived so much crap, and the safe place that had found was going to kill them. The last half hour had been chaos. After Jenner's revelation that the building was going to run out of energy, Vi had emotionlessly explained to everyone how the air in the building was more or less about to be set on fire, effectively burning each one of them to a crisp. The children were crying, the men were hitting at the door Jenner had shut them in with, with anything they could find, and the women were watching helplessly as the clock on the wall ticked down. They had spent most of the time convincing Jenner why he should let them out, and they should get a chance in the outside world. Several gunshots had been let off, courtesy of Shane, and Daryl had nearly taken Jenner's head off with an axe. Now Rick was pleading with Jenner to let them out, to try and continue surviving. After Jenner had revealed that Test Subject 19, was in fact his wife, he had seemed to become emotional, and could no longer keep these people here, killing them.

"As I say, all the doors on the ground floor were closed, and I can not open them." No-one seemed to care about this as they ran as fast as they could towards the doors of the building. Stef had heard Jacqui in passing state she wasn't coming with them. She wanted to stay here and die. As much as Stef would have liked to stay, and try and talk her out of it, there wasn't the luxury of time. The only thing that made her slow up was when she seen Dale stop running and turn to walk back to Andrea, who had now sat down on the floor.

Stef lingered in the doorway for a moment, before she felt a hand tighten around her wrist and pull. "Move!" Daryl shouted at her as he yanked her down the hallway behind him.

"What about-" Stef began to ask as they ran, but Daryl cut her off.

"I ain't leavin' you in there!"

They had made a quick stop for all their belongings, and headed back to where they had came in from. Jenner was right when he had told them the front entrance wasn't going to open. Daryl let go of Stef, and the men once again went to try and knock down a way through the window. Shane shot at it, Daryl hit it with an axe, and T-Dog... hit it with a chair. Carol suddenly stepped forward and spoke quietly to Rick, handing him something out of her bag. It was only when she stepped back, Stef noticed it was some sort of hand grenade. She immediately ran as far from the window as she could get, and crouched down in a corner, bracing herself for what was coming next.

The explosion shook the building slightly, but it would be nothing compared to what they would experience soon if they didn't get out. Stef risked another look back over her shoulder at where they had came from, checking for any signs of Dale and Andrea, but seeing nothing. She wished with everything that she had that Andrea had changed her mind, and they were coming with them. Hopefully Dale at least, would leave the building. Daryl pulled at her wrist again, getting her up from her current position. They began running behind the others, jumping over the space where the windows had once stood and out onto the last stretch to their vehicles. They could hear the glass crunch under their feet as they moved, the slight pain from it digging into their shoes not even registering with them at the moment. One obstacle after another seemed to get in their way as the explosion had apparently alerted several walkers to their presence. They were coming in from every side, closing in on the group of fresh food. The group tried to take down as many as they could while getting as far away from the building as possible, as the clock was ticking down. Daryl hadn't dropped Stef's wrist and was using his free arm to stab his knife into the corpses getting in their way. She had her rucksack on her back, and was carrying Daryl's with her other hand. Suprisingly, in the middle of all this shit, she still picked up on the noise of bottles clinking in Daryl's stuff, and decided the extra weight was due to the alcohol Daryl had apparently brought with him. Everyone moved to whatever vehicle they could get to first, with Daryl pushing Stef in front of him and into his truck.

If Stef had been counting down accurately they had about twenty seconds left. She scooted over quickly, so Daryl could get in and pull the door shut. She had just enough time to look up and take a quick glance out the window. The smile that broke out over her face when she seen Andrea and Dale climb out through what was left of the C.D.C. window disappeared quickly when she heard Rick shouting at them to get down and take cover somewhere. She didn't get to see where they went, because Daryl threw his body over the top of her, and buried her head into his arms. She couldn't help think at the most inappropriate time how nice it was. It was about three seconds later when the loudest noise in her life rang through her ears. Everything shook around her and she pressed as close to Daryl as she possibly could. The thought of what could have happened to them should they have still been in there, made her breath come faster, and her heart pound against her chest, as she dug her hands in tighter to the body on top of her.

A few minutes later, when the noise of the building crumbling beside them settled, Daryl took his weight off her, an arm at either side of where she was lying flat across the truck, and looked out over the window above her, seeing the man and woman crouched down behind a barrier outside what was left of the building. He looked down at Stef, a ringing noise still in his ears. "They made it." Stef smiled at him from underneath him, and he took a deep breath. If this didn't go to plan, he was going to make the rest of their time together very awkward. He leaned forward, bending his elbows slightly, and pressed his lips as gently as he could to Stef's. He was suddenly unsure of himself for a minute, as he wasn't used to being so gentle and careful, until he relaxed when he felt her kissing him back. Sure it wasn't the most romantic moment, but it seemed like too good of an opportunity to miss when he had her so close to him. She reached her hand up to settle it on his cheek, and Daryl fought the urge to turn away from the tender contact.

They stayed that way for a couple of moments, before they heard the roar of the RV engine as it started up at the front of their line of vehicles. They pulled apart, almost reluctantly, and took their seats before Daryl started the truck engine, and pulled out at the end of the line. Once again, they were on the road to nowhere, without a plan, supplies, or much more weaponry. But with the exception of Jacqui, they had the one thing that kept them all going before now. They had each other.


	9. Chapter 9

**Took longer to get this up than it meant to, sorry! This is just a very short intro chapter to Season 2. Soon we'll be on the highway! The only real reason this is here is for Stef/Rick to have a chat, I want them to have a good friendship built up in Season 2. Happy Christmas Eve everybody! :)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

The group had headed away from the wreck that had been the C.D.C. and followed Rick in the RV even although they weren't entirely sure what the plan was. They had made about forty miles towards Fort Benning, which had been chosen as their next destination at a brief stop some time back, when the sky had started to darken outside. Rick had honked the horn on the RV, and as a result, everyone pulled over and jumped out of the vehicles.

"What's the big plan then, Rick?" Shane asked, leaning against his car with a smug look on his face. He was happy they were finally following his lead, and Rick and Stef's idea hadn't worked out for them. But they definitely wouldn't have made it to the army base tonight, and they needed something for the meantime.

Rick lowered his head slightly, and let out a sigh. "I'm not sure. Maybe we sleep here for the night, stay in the vehicles, and get back on the road in the morning."

"Rick!" Lori exclaimed, her eyes darting between him and Shane. "We need something more than that! Carl is hungry, exhausted, and scared. There's walkers all around us here, look how many we passed in the fields." She pushed the little boy forward slightly, maybe even using him to make Rick feel guilty. They had in fact, passed many walkers stumbling around in fields on the way. They were the ones that had apparently got lost and were wandering around with no sense of direction at all, occasionally following after the group if they were close enough to the road to hear the vehicles.

"She's right man, we can't stay out here." Shane started walking over to the RV, and was met with Glenn coming out with maps. He was fumbling about, and turning them around, trying to get them up the right way. He had been good with directions closer to Atlanta, when he had an idea of where he was going, but now the former pizza boy was a bit out of his depth. "What ya got for us, Glenn?"

Glenn spread out one of the maps on the hood of Shane's car, and gave it another look over before turning to the group. "There's a roadside motel about five miles down the road, I think." Glenn used his finger to point out the building marked on the map. It looked fairly secluded, and was away from all other buildings. "We could probably make it to there in about 10 minutes."

Shane nodded his head in agreement. "I guess that could work. We could clear out any walkers hanging around, see if there's any supplies we could use, and set up a watch on the roof." Everyone else was too tired or more interested in finding shelter to argue. Instead, they went back to their vehicles, quietly got in, and started on the road again, looking for the motel Glenn had spotted. Stef was now driving Daryl's truck, as he had taken his brothers motorcycle to go on ahead, and check out anything before the RV got to it. The road so far had been quiet, only the occasional car stopped here and there. It might have been useful to check the cars for supplies, but as it was nearly dark, Rick didn't want to risk it, because it might have been hard to tell if there was danger in any of the cars before it was too late.

Finally, a building came into view. It was a 'L' shaped motel, and there were a couple of cars parked outside. Daryl stopped his motorcycle a bit away from the building, and the rest of the group did the same. As everyone hopped out of their vehicles, they noticed the few people figures, roaming around the front of the building.

"We should park up here, clear out the place, then move in," Shane suggested, pulling the gun out of the holster he had attached to his trousers. The rest of the men nodded in agreement, and found their chosen weapon before starting towards the walkers around the area. Rick had advised Shane to swap to a knife to avoid drawing any other walkers into the area that would have heard the gunshots. Stef felt helpless standing there watching, as unlike Lori and Carol, she didn't have any children to be looking after. Dale was still with them, but he had taken off to the top of the RV to check nothing had followed them, or none of the men were in danger.

Stef opened the door to Daryl's truck, and opened her rucksack, rummaging through it for her knife. She felt the cool of the metal blade and pulled it out, Andrea catching her from behind.

"I'm coming with you," she stated, Stef noticing that she too had something in her hand, what looked to be a baseball bat shaped piece of wood. She gave a simple nod of her head, and closed the door on Daryl's truck, before joining the blonde girl in walking over towards the motel. They approached slowly, looking for walkers around that they could take out. Daryl spun around after putting the arrow through the head of another walker, catching Stef looking over at him. He narrowed his eyes at her, but she gave him a look that said 'I'm fine'. He watched, his heart jumping a bit at she came up behind another walker and stuck her knife in the back of it's head, managing to get it free this time as the walker fell to the ground.

He turned his attention back to the walkers coming towards him, not being able to watch her every move, only being able to hope that she was alright. Luckily, by the time they had gotten rid of all the visible walkers, she was still standing on two feet, smiling over at him. He couldn't help himself as gave her a small smile back. Everyone went over to rejoin the woman and children beside the vehicles, and they all got ready to drive them into the parking lot. Dale had taken back his position of RV driver from Rick, after the C.D.C.

An hour or so later, and after they had managed to clear the immediate area of walkers, everyone picked out a room to stay in for the night. Daryl and Shane had agreed to take watch for the night, so they tried to work out what would be the easiest way to get on the roof. Stef put her stuff down in a room that had two single beds inside, one for her and one for Glenn. There was no point in unpacking anything as they would probably only be here for one night, so she picked out some clothes to wear in the morning, laying them out on a chair.

Stef sat down on the bed, frowning when she found it not as soft as she had hoped. Glenn seemed to notice and let out a long sigh.

"Wouldn't it have been nice if there was a luxury hotel beside the C.D.C.?" He asked, his mind obviously having traveled to dreamland as he thought of soft beds, warm showers, giant TV's and enough food that would last a life time. He missed video games more than anything, and prayed Fort Benning might have some electricity, and a games console. Unlikely, but he could hope.

"Guess we're not that lucky," Stef laughed, Glenn coming back to reality.

Most of the group had gathered in the reception area once they had chosen where they were going to sleep for the night. T-Dog had found a vending machine in the small space which he was trying to get the door of pryed open. Daryl had offered to smash it up for them, but Rick didn't want too much noise as he was still feeling unsafe here. When T-Dog managed to eventually get it open, they all crowded around to see what they could still eat out of everything left. Stef picked up a couple of packets of what were now probably stale potato chips, and a bottle of water that looked decent enough, and carried them back to her room. It didn't quite make up for a meal, and it was awful compared to the feast they had gotten at the C.D.C., but it was better than starving.

* * *

Daryl sat with his legs dangling off the roof, chewing on his thumbnail, while keeping an eye on his surroundings, watching for any signs of walkers. He had sat where he had a good view of the room that Stef was sleeping in. She was sharing with Glenn, much like they had done at the Quarry, and he couldn't help feel a little jealous. He knew that the two were like best friends, and that was the only reason they were always close together, but suddenly he had found himself feeling rather possessive.

He had wanted to ask Stef to share a room with him, not necessarily for sex, or to even share a bed, but so he could be close to her and make sure that she was alright. Though as much as he hated to admit it, he had faith in Glenn, that he could handle any trouble if their room happened to be a target for walkers. But to ask her that would have been too much for Daryl. He had built up a wall around his heart, over the years, as cliche as it might have sounded. His years of being unloved and beaten had toughened him up, emotionally as well as physically. He didn't understand why someone would care for him, or want to be around him. And that often led him to believe people were just playing with him, or using him for something. But Stef was different. She seemed to be genuinely concerned about him, and wasn't scared or disgusted when he touched her. So when he had kissed her, and he felt her lips pressing back onto his, a few bricks had fallen out of that wall that stopped him having feelings. But only a few, and there was still a long way to go, before he could feel entirely comfortable.

He swore at himself quietly for thinking like a girl, and about his feelings. He should be more focused on the task here. But everything had been quiet, which unnerved him a bit. Shane was positioned on the opposite side of the roof, his gaze never leaving the room that the Grimes' were sleeping in. He wondered briefly if he was also being troubled with jealousy. Everyone knew about him and the Sheriff's wife before all this. His thoughts then wandered to Merle and where he might have been. He couldn't deny that he missed his brother. He may have irritated him and angered him most of the time, but he was family. The only family that mattered to him. The world was a big place, and now they were no longer at the quarry, it was a lot less likely that they would be reunited again. He wished the night would hurry in, there was far too much time for him to think up here.

* * *

Stef had spent about an hour staring at the ceiling of the motel room before deciding she'd had enough. She got up, and decided to head out to the RV to see if Dale had any decent books to read. She took the lantern that was on the bedside table, and made her way outside. She called up to Daryl to let him know where she was, and entered the vehicle, browsing through Dale's collection. Eventually, she settled on a crime novel and took a seat at the table, setting the lantern down beside her to give her some light. She didn't want to go back to the room and wake Glenn who was sleeping like a baby. Half an hour or so later, the door to the RV rattled slightly as someone at the other side pulled it open. Stef jumped as a figure filled the doorway, only to relax again when the dim light illuminated Rick's face. He walked up the steps, closing the door behind him, and dropping the flashlight he had been carrying on the counter.

"Hey Stef, didn't mean to startle you, wasn't really expecting anyone in here." Rick gave her a small smile as he joined her sitting down opposite her at the table. He had a bottle of water in his hand, and was fiddling with the lid of it. "Can't sleep?"

Stef put down the book she was reading and set it on the table. "Not really, never can these days." Rick nodded in agreement, giving a small laugh. "What about you?"

The smile faded from his face and he let out a long sigh. "Lori.." he began, looking out the RV window to the room where his wife slept. "She's not happy with me. She thinks I led her and Carl into danger at the C.D.C."

"You didn't know what Jenner was going to do," Stef said quickly, looking down at the table. "You were only trying to protect them. All of us."

"Yeah." He said it like he wasn't even sure that he believed it himself. "Maybe we should have just listened to Shane." Stef wondered for a moment if Rick knew about Shane and Lori. He probably wouldn't have been saying that if he did. But it wasn't for her to tell him. That was Lori's job.

"Everyone made it out." Stef began, but then, after thinking about it, changed her statement. "Except Jacqui, but that was her own choice."

"We nearly lost Dale and Andrea too," Rick said sadly, gesturing to the RV around them, which everyone associated with Dale.

"But we didn't," Stef said firmly, hesitating for a moment before reaching out her hand and placing it on Rick's shoulder. The man had only arrived with the group days ago, and now everyone looked to him for advice and blamed him when something went wrong. It wasn't hard to imagine how strained he must have been feeling. Rick looked up and met her eye's giving her a small smile before changing the subject.

"So what did you do before all this?" Rick asked, straightening his composure, looking as if his little emotional outburst had never happened. "I don't think I heard much about you."

Stef laughed slightly, leaning back in the chair. She liked Rick. There was something about him that just made him easy to talk to, and although she hardly knew him, she trusted him, that he would do his best to keep them safe. "There's not much to tell. Nine to five in an office Monday to Friday, and at the weekends I was a bartender. Nothing exciting." Stef wished she had an amazingly exciting life to tell about before all this, but to be honest, this was probably the most excitement she had ever experienced. If you could call it that. Before it was a case of work to pay the bills, and sleep. She lived alone in an apartment with her cat and hadn't dated any one for at least a year. "If I went back in time a year and told myself what I was doing now, I'd just have laughed."

"Wouldn't we all?" Rick gave a small chuckle. "Were you with family before all this?"

"There was just my mom left, I was traveling to Atlanta to see her. I don't expect she made it out," Stef said quietly, catching Rick's sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Rick raised his eyebrow when Stef laughed slightly.

"Don't be.. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's lost someone." Stef felt a bit better knowing there was no one hundred percent proof her mother was dead, although it was more than likely. Everyone in camp who had lost someone, had to witness it happening. Andrea had watched Amy turn slowly, Carol had to put a pick-axe through Ed's head, Daryl had found Merle's cut off hand, although that didn't necessarily mean he was dead, he was still lost, and even Jim before his death had to witness his family being torn apart right in front of him. Things like that would surely haunt these people's nightmares forever.

Stef eventually stood up and said goodnight to Rick, before making her way back to the room she was sharing with Glenn to try and get at least an hours sleep before they set off again in the morning.

* * *

Daryl spent the time in the morning helping Stef pack up as many supplies as they could find. They had filled bags full of bedding incase they were forced to sleep in their vehicles at any point, whatever still looked edible out of the vending machines and all the bottles of water that were in the boxes they had found near the reception desk. They were warm, but they were drinkable. Glenn had stocked up on maps, and flashlights as well as anything else he had to be of use found in the storeroom.

They had gone round most of the rooms, emptying them as much as possible. The two of them put their rucksacks on their shoulders, and carried the bags with the extra supplies they had gathered, before heading towards the vehicles. Daryl stopped abruptly when he heard Stef let out a small yell behind him. He spun around instantly, Stef standing a couple of paces behind him. He could see no danger in the area around them, but Stef's face had gone completely white and her breathing was coming faster.

"What?" Daryl asked panicked, as Stef started to back away from the apparently imaginary danger she had spotted. He raised his eyebrows as she pointed to the ground in front of her, and he seen what was causing her discomfort. He smirked in amusement and shook his head, as the spider made it's way towards Stef's feet. He wondered for a moment how she could take out the walkers so easily last night, as if it was a normal thing to do now, and still be so scared of the small creature on the ground.

"Daryl.. do something!" He could tell that she was genuinely freaked out by the spider by the tone of her voice, and let out a small chuckle. He walked over to where she was standing, bypassing the spider, and picking her up, putting her over his shoulder slightly, then walking away from the thing. He dropped her down to her feet when they were a bit away, and she let out a deep breath. He didn't see the need to kill it, which shocked him. Back at his trailer, he wouldn't have thought twice about squashing it under his boot or swatting it with a rolled up piece of paper. But not today... maybe all this death was getting to him more than he thought.

"It wouldn't have hurt ya," he assured, checking no-one was watching them, as he leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips before making his way back to Merle's motorcycle.

"That's what they always say," she smiled at his back as she watched him go.


	10. Chapter 10

**Annd, here's the next one! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! :)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

There was no way forward. After they had resumed driving that morning, they had followed Shane's directions for Fort Benning until they had reached a highway. Daryl led the line of vehicles, his motorcycle able to get ahead and around any obstacles. Until now. They were completely stuck. They had reached a part of the highway where there were cars all over the place, making it near impossible to see the road, let alone get through them. Along with that, the RV had broken down again, steam coming out the front like crazy. Daryl had gone ahead to inspect the situation before driving back, and breaking the news. Until some of the cars were moved and there was a path cleared, they were stuck. And no one had any idea how long that was going to take. Not to mention Dale would go nowhere without the RV, and at the minute, the RV was going nowhere. There was sudden silence as everyone turned off the engines of their vehicles, and congregated by the roadside.

Stef shut the door of Daryl's truck, and out of habit, stuck the key in to lock it. It was unlikely a walker was going to steal it and drive off, but you never know. She missed her own car, which they had left at the quarry after emptying it of fuel. So when Daryl had asked her to take the truck she had been more than happy. Stef turned around in time to see the man himself climbing off his motorcycle, a smile forming on her lips at the angel wings on his vest. An angel would probably be the last thing anyone in camp would have described him as, but Stef seen similarities. After all, he had saved her life twice, once from walkers and once from the insane Dr Jenner and his love of explosives. She walked over to join the rest of the group, pocketing the keys to Daryl's truck.

Glenn had taken on the position of apprentice mechanic and was helping Dale find the right tools that they would need to try and fix the RV as best as possible. But until they found a hose, it wasn't going to do them a lot of good. Shane and Andrea had taken off back into the RV, and Rick had gone a walk with Dale's binoculars and his rifle, checking for any signs of trouble. Daryl and T-Dog, an unlikely pairing, had just left in search of fuel for the vehicles. Hopefully they would get enough to last the group to Fort Benning. Stef followed Lori and Carol, who were making their way to the vehicles to see if there was anything worth taking in them.

Stef leaned over to get a look into one of the car windows. Inside it, she was met with the unpleasant view of a corpse spread out over the drivers seat. There were several flies around the body, making her want to turn her head away and vomit, but she took a deep breath before opening the back door to look through the persons bag. It was hard to tell if it had been a man or a woman due to the rate they had decayed, but going on the make-up stored in the bag, Stef went for female. She chucked all the useless items out onto the back seat of the cars, taking only a bottle of painkillers and some face wipes that might have been good if they couldn't find any water around, as long as they hadn't already dried out. She shut the door quick once she was done, and turned away and coughed a few times, trying to inhale as much clean air as possible and get rid of the smell of death. A few more cars later and she had nothing else except from a flashlight, which was starting to dim due to lack of battery life. It wasn't exactly a successful load, but it was better than nothing. Maybe the other two were doing better than she was.

She walked over to stand beside Carol who had pulled out a beautiful red top from one of the cars she had been going through. Carol held it against her body, checking it for size before biting her lip and turning to Stef. "Ed never let me have nice things."

Stef suddenly felt a rush of sympathy for the woman. She deserved nice things, not a bastard for a husband. She gave Carol a small smile and shook her head. "Maybe we just won't tell him about this one.." Carol gave a small laugh, her face lighting up slightly, until she looked up and caught Lori's gaze. The younger woman looked unhappy, and had barely moved from where she had started. Stef followed her gaze and reached out to pull back Carol's hand as she started to lower the garment back into the car. "It's OK." Stef walked over to where Lori was standing and eyed her warily before reaching out to put her hand on her arm. "Lori.."

"It's a graveyard," Lori cut her off, pulling her arm away and wrapping it around herself. "This isn't right."

"Maybe not," Stef said quietly, looking around her. In the old world this would have been wrong. Illegal. Criminal. But now, there wasn't much of a choice for them. They were running out of clean clothes. Out of warm clothes. They had little supplies, and not a lot of fuel. And nothing was as easy to come by as it used to be. So this was one of the only remaining options. "But it's necessary. Look around Lori, these people aren't going to miss the stuff." Lori gave her a disgusted look, but deep down she knew that it was true. They needed this stuff more than the previous owners did. She didn't say another word, but bit down on her lip and walked over to one of the cars. She felt guilt eating at her as she pulled at the door handle, but she just kept telling herself Stef was right. It was necessary. She thought of Carl, and keeping him safe and warm, as she began to rummage through the suitcase that had been stuffed onto the passenger seat.

Stef had started to make her way back to the RV, hoping to find something in the bags of supplies they had picked up from the motel that she could prepare for the group to eat. The RV was empty at the minute, which she was kind of thankful for. Shane had gone off with Glenn somewhere and she was unsure as to the whereabouts of Andrea. As she looked through the cupboards, she put the stuff she wasn't going to be using on the table behind her. It was only then that she noticed the gun. Or rather, the dismantled gun, in various pieces scattered across the table. There was a rag next to it that looked like someone had been using to clean it off. Stef's hands froze onto the tin she was holding, and she walked slowly to the table. Her thoughts went back to the conversation she had with Daryl in his truck after they had left the C.D.C. A knife wasn't going to be the best she could use to protect herself and others. After the incident at camp resulting in the loss of Amy and Jim, amongst others, Shane had changed his mind about guns and thought it might have been a better idea if all the adults carried one. "_Best way to get over yer fear, is facin' it_." Daryl had told her, when she complained to him. She put down the tin on the table and stared at the piece for a few minutes.

Her fingers reached out, but only hovered for a moment. She laughed quietly at herself. It wasn't even loaded, it couldn't have hurt her. Hell, even Carl had asked his father if he could have a gun, with no fear at all, and he was less than half her age. If he could do it, then so could she. She slowly picked up the stock of the gun, and examined it. It was so small, yet the damage it could do if in the wrong hands was extraordinary. She sat on one of the seats, her hand still wrapped around the piece of the gun she had, and ran her fingers along it quietly. One tiny bullet from something like this had been all it had taken to end her dad's life. But one tiny bullet could also be what it might take to save her life now. She put down what she was holding, and moved her hands over to one of the other parts.

"It's not going to bite you," Andrea stood at the doorway of the RV, arms crossed over her chest. She realized she had startled Stef when she heard the clink of the metal as Stef dropped down the piece of the gun to the table. "Sorry.. I was just getting some fresh air." Andrea moved over to sit opposite Stef. She noticed what she had been doing and stayed silent for a moment. Stef had told her the story of how her dad had died when they were on watch together at the quarry one night. She'd had a phobia of guns ever since then, which Andrea could understand. Her own father had given her the gun on the table, but she had only found it the other day when she was going through Amy's stuff. The younger sister had been keeping it in her rucksack. Her father had made them take it on their little road trip, not wanting his two girls to be left alone without protection.

"It's fine, I uh.. was just looking for something we could eat." Stef rose to her feet, picking up the tin she had left on the table. "I should go find Carol, see what we can get out of this." Stef walked back towards the doorway, Andrea giving her a small nod as she passed by. Andrea moved the bits of the gun over to herself, hoping she could piece it together the way Shane had shown her earlier. She gave a small sigh and began, as Stef left the RV.

Andrea wasn't sure what she was doing, but she would figure it out. She was fed up of doing the chores expected of the women around here, and wanted to help protect the camp. And to do that, she needed to be able to use a gun.

* * *

Rick knew exactly what that was. The way the person shuffled their feet along the ground, and their head drooped as they moved. It was a walker. He had seen enough of them by now to know. He sighed quietly, and lifted his rifle, debating whether or not to shoot the thing. He just got the one walker in focus, when another came into view at the side. And another. And another. This was bad. Really, really bad. What he had thought was one walker coming towards them, was actually around a hundred or so walkers. He spun around quickly and caught Dale's horrified stare from the top of the RV. He had seen the same thing too, apparently. He ran as quickly as he could back to the group, and tried his best to alert them without alerting the walkers that they were there.

"Walkers!" He was half shouting, half whispering, trying to make sure everyone understood him. "Get down!"

Stef's heart did some sort of somersault and terror flooded her whole body. She froze in place as Rick urgently waved his hand at everyone for them to get down. It obviously wasn't a situation they could have taken care of if Rick was suggesting they hide rather than fight. Stef snapped out of whatever had pinned her feet to the ground, and looked around for the best place she could go. It was then than Carl appeared by her side and she took a deep breath before ushering him under the car that was beside them. It was a struggle to fit them both under while keeping all limbs out of view of the walkers, but Stef pulled his small frame close to her and prayed the undead would walk on by. She reached down to feel for the metal blade of her knife, only slight relief coming when it was in place. Stef's eyes then scanned the area, noticing Sophia had taken refuge under the car beside her and Carl, and was looking completely terrified. She tried to smile reassuringly at the girl, but her mouth barely moved from the line it was set into. Carol and Lori were at the opposite side of the road, Lori's eyes pleading with Stef to keep her boy safe. She pulled Carl a little closer to her at this. Carol was tearing up, being away from her daughter who was alone, with Lori's hand wrapped around her mouth, obviously to stop her yelling out to her. Stef seen Rick, Shane and Glenn all hiding out under one of the nearby cars. Dale wasn't anywhere to be found, but the last place he had been was on top of the RV. Hopefully he was lying flat enough up there that he wouldn't be spotted.

Stef felt another shot of fear coursing through her body when she remembered Daryl was out there somewhere. Him and T-Dog were far away enough from the rest of the group, it would be unlikely that they would have heard Rick's quiet warning. Thanks to Daryl being a hunter, he had amazing sight and hearing, and hopefully he would realize there was something wrong. What panicked Stef was that his crossbow was still sitting on the back of his motorcycle, and all he had with him was his knife, same as her. She wasn't a praying person, but she said a quick few words to God, as the first pair of walker feet passed by. Time seemed to slow down as they shuffled past, their groans sending chills down Stef's spine. It was then Andrea popped into her mind. She was in the RV. And the goddamn RV door was still open. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, still holding on to Carl, and hoped this would be over soon with no casualties. The walkers didn't stop coming, and the smell as they went by was almost overwhelming. Carl didn't seemed to be as scared as she had thought he would have been as he met her eyes under the car. He gave her a small smile, which strangely made her feel a hundred times better. He was brave as hell, she had to give him that. The little girl at the other side of her, she couldn't say the same thing about. She was clutching on tightly to the doll in her hand, and her eyes were wide as the herd passed by. Stef wanted nothing more than to give her a hug and tell her it would be OK, but the only thing they could do right now was to wait this out.

After what seemed like forever, the number of walkers passing by decreased slightly. Rick looked back to inspect the situation before shaking his head slightly. Still not safe. Stef heard a shuffling noise coming from the right side of her and turned her head to see Sophia's hand slide slowly across the road. Stef immediately raised her hand trying to signal for the girl to get back under. She obviously hadn't seen Rick and thought that the coast was clear to get up and out. Sophia didn't look at Stef in time and let out a small yelp as a walker bent down, having caught sight of her arm, and was now swatting for her under the car. Sophia rolled towards the other side and got up, looking around frantically for someone to help or somewhere to go. When she was unsuccessful, she took off over the railing at the side of the road and down the hill towards the forest at the bottom. Stef rolled over and started to make her way out from under the vehicle, urging Carl to stay where he was. She caught her arm on a sharp object under the car and hissed as it cut open a wound. Trying not to focus on the harsh stinging, she whipped out her knife from where it was situated and plunged it into the back of the head of the walker who had spooked Sophia into running away.

Seconds later, Rick was by her side, looking all around him for traces of the girl. Stef lifted her arm up and pointed out towards the forest. "That way." In an instant, Rick had taken off following her direction. She pondered for a moment if she should stay, but more eyes looking for Sophia couldn't do any harm. And she felt bad that she hadn't been able to get Sophia to stay put. She heard Carol's sobs from behind her, as she hopped over the railing, and followed Rick's footsteps.

* * *

Daryl growled as he shoved the dead body off the top of him. It might have been downright disgusting, but it had saved him. The smell of death had overpowered the smell of living humans and the walkers had moved on like there was nothing interesting for them there. It had been something he had learned from Rick and Glenn, which they had done the first time in Atlanta. He was thankful now he had actually been listening to them when they told the story. He stood up and straightened his back before looking down to where T-Dog lay. Holding back some curse words, he reached down and rolled T-Dog's dead protector off him, and grudgingly extended a hand to help him up. T-Dog looked at him funny before taking his hand, and pulling himself upright. Daryl had just saved his life, which was more than unexpected, so for him now to be helpful there was definitely something wrong. Daryl looked down at where the man had cut himself on a piece of broken window from one of the cars. There was blood pouring from the wound on his arm and he needed to get back to camp and get sorted up. "We should move, or you'll bleed out," Daryl nodded back towards the direction of where the group had been. Hopefully they had been sensible and hadn't came across any trouble with the herd either.

The two men started walking, Daryl carrying back the fuel they had managed to siphon from the vehicles and offering T-Dog a rag to tie around his arm. It wasn't the cleanest and there was always the risk of infection, but it was the best he could offer at the minute. The walk was quiet, and it was almost as if nothing had just happened. Soon they were rejoined with the group, and Daryl approached Shane with the fuel they had collected. Shane seemed distracted, his gaze on the forest down the hillside. His eyes never met Daryl's as he spoke. "We got a problem." It was then that Daryl focused properly and looked around the group. Carol was crying quietly into Lori's shoulder who was doing her best to offer comfort, while Dale and Andrea stood atop the RV looking all around them as if searching for something. Carl and Glenn were pacing along the side of the highway, keeping their eyes on their surroundings. And then Daryl noticed there were people absent from the group. Officer Friendly, the little girl.. and Stef. Oh shit.

His mind did the exact same thing it did when Shane had told him there was a problem in Atlanta. The day they had left his brother handcuffed to a roof. It thought the worst. In this case, being that Stef was dead. He hoped to himself that she had survived like Merle, and she would come back soon, safe and sound, preferably with both hands still attached to her body.

* * *

Stef ran as fast as her feet would take her. The ground underneath was uneven, and it was hard to keep balanced and not land flat on your face. Rick's figure was visible a short distance ahead of her, which made her keep her pace. She didn't want to be stuck out here alone. Sophia was alone wherever she was, and she must have been scared to death. She was only around twelve and had nothing on her to protect herself. It was then, almost like thinking about her would make her appear that Rick stopped suddenly in front of her, nearly making her crash straight into the back of him. The young girl was standing in front of them, relief all over her face as they made their way towards her. Her hands immediately reached out to try and pull Rick's gun out of it's holster, urging him to shoot the walkers that had been chasing her. "No, the one's back on the highway would hear," Rick warned, scooping the girl up into his arms. He made his way over to Stef and offered his hand, which she gratefully took as the three of them started their run back to the others.

Out of nowhere, a walker came stumbling towards them. Rick dropped Sophia gently to the ground, and she cowered behind Stef. "Get her out of here," Rick ordered Stef, who promptly took the girls hand and ran in the direction opposite Rick. They made it to a creek with water flowing through it, and a small cave like hole in the rock opposite which would make a great place to hide out. They splashed through the water to the other side, Sophia holding onto Stef's hand for dear life, as the woman pushed her into the hole.

"Sophia, I need you to stay here. I'm gonna help Rick, and we'll come straight back for you." Sophia started to cry at this, and begged Stef not to leave her alone, which almost broke Stef's heart to hear. But there were more walkers in the distance when they had left Rick, and he was in more danger than them right now. "I promise, we'll be back. And if you have to run, go that way, and keep the sun on your left shoulder." Stef gave the girl's hand a quick squeeze, before running back to where Rick had been. Her heart was screaming at her to stay with Sophia, but her head told her to go help Rick. It was too much and it caused a throbbing in her head as she ran.

Eventually, she came back to where Rick was beating a walker with a rock. From what she could see there was only one left, and she immediately pulled out her knife and moved over to it. With a deep breath, she aimed for the walkers eye, hopefully hitting the brain when the knife went straight through the head of the walker. She twisted the knife around slightly, grimacing as the blood from it sprayed out, covering her cheek. It should be something they were used to by now, but it never felt any better. Rick's hand tapped at her shoulder and she turned around, taking the hand he offered to pull her up. Without any words, she nodded in the direction of where she had left Sophia, and they started walking. She lifted her hand to wipe away the beads of the walkers blood trickling down her face, which only resulted in her smudging it instead.

As they reached where Stef had left Sophia, her heart sank. The hole in the rocks was empty. No Sophia. "I left her right here.." Stef whispered quietly, barely audible enough for Rick to hear her. If she had just stayed with her, she would have known exactly where Sophia was. How was Carol going to react when she learned they had lost her daughter?

Rick chewed his lip for a moment, hearing the guilt in Stef's voice. "We'll find her," he tried to reassure her, but she had dropped to her knees in the water beside him, looking utterly defeated. "But we need help."


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry it's taking so long to get these updates out, Christmas and New Years in my house makes it hard to get a minute to yourself! Hope you enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**

* * *

Rick pulled at Stef's hand trying to make the younger woman walk along quicker. She had protested about going back to camp, wanting to stay where they had left Sophia incase she came back, but Rick knew it wasn't safe for anyone to be there alone. Especially as Stef had refused to take his gun if she was going to stay. So he had grabbed her hand and started on their way back to the highway. They needed extra people to help them look, and who were also capable of protecting themselves. Daryl would have been the best to bring along with him being excellent at tracking, but Rick wasn't even sure if he and T-Dog had survived the herd. He wasn't even sure if everyone that had been with him had survived. He had just ran. As fast as his feet had taken him after the small girl in front.

"She'll think we've left her there if she comes back," Stef said quietly, her head down.

"Then the quicker we get reinforcements, the quicker we can get back to her." Rick tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, but he knew all too well how a lot of missing childrens cases ended up, as he had worked a few of them before. Even when it had been close to normal in the world, if a child went missing, they weren't always found. It didn't help in Sophia's situation that she was in a large area of forest and the dead were trying to eat you. That would only make it a hundred times harder for her. The pair of them eventually came to the bottom of the hill that led up to the highway, and Rick gave Stef a gentle push up before he followed. He'd collect Shane, Glenn and Daryl, and they would go back out there, and he'd be damned if they didn't find that girl. Hopefully she'd be alive when they did.

* * *

Daryl was pacing. Pacing on the roadside. He had wanted to go look for Rick, Stef and Sophia, but Shane had argued that it would be hard to find them as he wasn't entirely sure what direction they had gone in and they would be better to give them a couple of hours to come back themselves. If they hadn't appeared by then, then it would be acceptable to start a search. After Shane had told them what happened, Daryl was three things. He was worried, that Stef wouldn't come back, or that she would be hurt. He was angry, that she had left in the first place. And he was angry at himself that he even cared. If it was anyone else, he would still search, but he wouldn't do it with much emotion. So when he saw her climbing over the railing in front of Rick, he tried to control his relief.

She looked the worst that Daryl had ever seen. Her face was smeared with blood, making it hard to see the clear skin underneath. There was a wound on her arm that had blood running down in a trail to her hand. Had she been bitten? Had she been scratched? Her trousers were wet and covered in dirt, and they had holes in them where the knees used to be. His feet immediately were moving and he was half running to where she stood. She didn't look up to him as he stood in front of her and lifted her arm to examine. "This a bite?" His tone was demanding an answer. Everyone in the group watched him carefully, thinking he was going to do the same thing he had with Jim and Amy, and propose they kill her had she been bitten. But he wasn't sure he could bring himself to do that to her if she had been infected. He thought he might have been being too rough, but he needed to know she was OK. Stef shook her head side to side and kept her eyes on the ground. She told him quietly she had cut herself before they had left the group. The reason she still hadn't looked up at him was the grey haired woman looking at her and Rick from the doorway of the RV, her eyes searching for answers as to the whereabouts of her daughter. Rick left Stef's side, and walked over to where the older woman stood beside his wife. He instructed her to go into the RV, and followed behind, closing the door behind him. It was then that Stef looked up and met Daryl's eyes. Her eyes were full of sadness and guilt, and Daryl reached down to lace his fingers with hers. He pulled her away gently from Shane and Glenn who had came to meet them. "C'mon." Both Shane and Glenn watched him with a strange look. Daryl wasn't usually a fan of interaction and they couldn't figure out why Stef was going with him.

He brought her to a stop outside his truck, and tried to open the door so she could sit on the passenger seat. When he realized it was locked, she fumbled in her pocket for a minute before handing him the keys. Daryl was momentarily confused, at the fact she had locked it. He never did, no one had ever wanted to steal it. Especially not now. Shane had found a large supply of bottled water in the back of a truck on the highway, which Daryl left momentarily to get some of. When he came back he rummaged through one of the bags containing his belongings that had been dumped in the back, and picked out one of the cleanest shirts he could find. He dipped it in the water before starting to wipe at the blood on Stef's face. She sat perfectly still, and in a matter of minutes, he had removed as much of the blood as he could. If it wasn't her blood, then it must have come from a walker, and it wasn't the most pleasant thing to have all over you, so he tried to work as quick as he could. When he lowered his hand, Stef stood up from the truck, and straightened herself out, her eyes meeting Daryl's again.

"It's my fault," she whispered to him, as he took a clean bit of shirt and started to clean the wound on her arm. The last thing he wanted to do was get walkers blood in her wound. He wasn't sure if the infection could be passed on that way, but he wasn't going to risk it to find out.

"Huh?" Daryl asked confused, loosening his grip slightly when she flinched as the cool water met her cut. "What is?"

"Sophia... I should have stayed with her, but I- I left her alone. I went to help Rick instead of staying with her" Stef tore her gaze away from him again and looked out over the forest area. "Now she's lost." Daryl had been thinking that the girl was dead. When they showed up without her, Stef looking upset, and Rick taking Carol away, that was the automatic idea he had gotten. But apparently she was still out there.

Daryl dropped her arm, and instead reached out to cup her chin, turning her head around so she had to look at him. "It aint' yer fault." Shane had told him how Sophia had gotten up and ran, her own choice. Rick and Stef had obviously found her, but Stef had left her to help Rick. There was nothing wrong with that. If the girl had been in trouble, then hopefully she had gone back to where they had left her. And finding her shouldn't be too difficult. But apparently they were going to have a hard time trying to convince Stef that. "No ones blaming ya for what ya did." Her lips twitched into a barely there smile.

Stef reached around to pull Daryl in closer to her. She felt a tiny bit of comfort at the movement, and it took her mind of Sophia for a split second. She felt him tense up underneath her as she reached her hand up to run it over the softer fabric of the angel wings on his vest. It took a minute before Daryl moved, but eventually he wrapped his own arms around her back and held on to her. She wanted to be close to him right now, and that gave Daryl a sense of pride. He wondered briefly for a moment how she had pierced through his tough exterior as he slipped his hand up to rest it on her neck so her head could be against his shoulder. They still hardly knew anything about one another, but it was as if some unseen force kept pushing them together. Rick's voice from a distance broke their bodies apart, but Stef rested her forehead against Daryl's. "Daryl! Stef! We're heading out now." Stef's thoughts snapped back to Sophia and she rubbed at her eyes for a moment before looking to where Rick had called from.

"Let's go," Daryl said quietly, starting to head over to where Rick, Glenn and Shane were waiting on them beside the railing, "and find that lil' girl."

* * *

Carol hadn't taken the news well. Which was expected. The moment Rick had explained to her that her daughter was still out there somewhere in the forest, she had crumbled in front of him. Although he had gathered a rescue team, and spent the best of twenty minutes trying to convince Carol that her daughter would be found and returned tonight, daylight would only be with them for another couple of hours or so, and Rick was starting to worry slightly more himself. So he had left Lori to watch over Carol as he, Glenn, Stef, Shane and Daryl retraced their steps from earlier, in the hopes of coming across Sophia.

Rick had tried to drag his feet in certain areas when he had been walking back, so he had sort of mapped out where they had came from. Everything looked the same in the forest and it was hard to tell if they had passed the same trees or were walking in a circle. Luckily, Daryl had been fine after the herd had passed by and as he was great at hunting, this was just his kind of thing. If Daryl got Sophia's trail, hopefully he could follow it and bring them straight to her.

Rick spared a sideways glance at the man and woman walking on the left of him. He had stumbled across them holding on to each other earlier when he had gone to fetch them, but had backed away, not wanting to invade their privacy. He couldn't help wonder why they were close. Stef was a sweet, friendly young woman, and Daryl was... Daryl. Rick didn't imagine that they would have a lot in common. But Stef wasn't afraid of Daryl like half the woman and children at the quarry had been, and Daryl didn't seem to mind having her around. His thoughts shifted to himself and Lori. Before the dead got up and started walking around, things hadn't been going great between them. However, neither one of them could bring themselves to admit it, Rick couldn't help but feel they were only still together for the sake of Carl. They couldn't verbalize their problems with each other, and that led to a crack forming in their relationship. Things had been fixed slightly when Rick was reunited with her after his apparent death. They had apologized to each other, and regained some of the bond they had shared when they first met, but they seemed to be drifting apart again. He found himself feeling that Lori was more distant with him than she ever had been, and it didn't take a lot for her to disagree with him.

His mind was brought back to the present as his feet ran out of ground beneath them, as he stood beside the water at the creek.

"This is where she was when I last seen her," Stef said, slowly walking down the slope first and walking through the water. She came to a stop outside a small cave like hole in the rocks and pointed with her finger. "In there."

"Alright, Daryl, see if you can get anything," Rick instructed, turning to face Shane and Glenn. "You two should head back to camp. There's not a lot we can do out here, and we need to get some of those vehicles moved, so we can move on _when _we find Sophia." Stef noticed how Rick emphasized the word 'when', and didn't say 'if', meaning he was sure that they would get the girl back to her mother. She felt a hand on her back and turned from where she had been staring into the rocks, as if hoping the girl would magically reappear, to be faced with Rick standing beside her and gesturing towards Glenn and Shane. "You should go with them, get something to eat, and rest."

Stef shook her head, and began to walk away before Rick spoke up again. "You've shown us where Sophia was last seen." The tracks the girl had left when she had ran away had been picked up on by Daryl and he was starting to follow them along. "Leave it to us now, Stef." She sighed defeatedly before walking away without any acknowledgement to Shane or Glenn as they started following her. She knew there really wasn't much else she could do, but wanted to keep looking anyway. Maybe she could go back, get some sleep to be refreshed then head back and give them a hand. The walk between the water and the highway seemed longer everytime, but the route was starting to become familiar.

Shane gave her a hand over the railing and nodded towards the RV. "You should change out of those," he pointed at her trousers which were still damp from standing in the water. "Keeping them on wet won't be good for you. And get a proper dressing on your arm." He walked away over towards where T-Dog had attempted to make something for dinner out of what they had left. She rubbed at where she had cut her arm only really remembering it after Shane had pointed it out. Daryl had cleaned the blood from it, but hadn't put anything on it. It was slightly painful, but the worries for Sophia had pushed it to the back of her mind. She went over first to where Daryl's truck was sat, looking through her stuff for a clean, dry pair of trousers, frowning when she couldn't find any.

She looked around her for Andrea, whom she had shared some clothing with before, but couldn't see the blonde girl anywhere. Instead, she saw Lori standing over by the side of the railing, probably watching for Rick coming back. Stef walked over and gave the older woman half a smile. "I don't suppose you have a pair of trousers I could borrow?" Apparently all hers had been to wash, but now they didn't have the water like at the quarry, laundry wasn't as easy to do. Lori nodded her head and put her hand on Stef's shoulder, ushering her towards the RV.

"Sure, c'mon." Stef saw Carol watching her from where she was seated on the roadside and tried her best to give a reassuring look to the woman. She couldn't imagine how hard it was on her. Sophia was all she had left.

Lori opened the door to the RV and started to rummage through her belongings for a pair of trousers. She handed Stef a pair of jeans she had found, and Stef headed into the small bathroom to change. The pair of jeans that she took off were probably better being discarded altogether than being put in the laundry pile. She rolled them up, and made a mental note to use them for rags or something more useful than throwing them away. When she re-entered the main part of the RV, Lori had set down a plate of food on the table, and had laid out a bandage and some water.

"Eat, and then we'll get you cleaned up." Stef sat and ate what she could of the food, not having much of an appetite left but not wanting to waste what little they actually had, before Lori sat beside her, and started to clean her wound again with more water. She was a lot more gentle than Daryl, but somehow Stef wished it was his rough hands on her arm, and not Lori's. "So, Rick tells us you helped get rid of the walkers that chased Sophia?"

"It wasn't a big job.." Stef flinched slightly as Lori started to wrap the bandage around her arm. "Staying with Sophia would have been a better idea." It was obvious to Lori how bad Stef felt about the whole thing. And if it had been Carl out there, she probably wouldn't have been taking it so well herself, but she had faith that her husband and Daryl would find the girl.

Lori gave her a sympathetic gaze as she continued her work. "Carol doesn't blame you, Stef." Stef looked up then to meet Lori's eyes, hoping that she'd heard right. Surely Carol hated her right now, she had practically lost her daughter. If they had of been in each others shoes, Stef would have probably set up a target with Carol's face and started throwing darts at it by now. "Rick explained everything, and if anything she's thankful to you. You went after her in the first place." Stef only felt slightly better with this information. She didn't reply to Lori, instead just chewed on her bottom lip. She had no idea what she'd say to Carol when she finally brought herself to speak to her. And so, she had found herself avoiding the older woman. Lori finished up wrapping up Stef's arm, and got to her feet, gathering the 'medical supplies' they had, and heading back for the door of the RV. "You should rest now."

Stef stood and followed her to the doorway, turning in the opposite direction to Lori. "Thanks for that." Lori smiled over her shoulder as she began to walk away, and Stef made her way over to Daryl's truck. She opened the door of the passenger side, and climbed in, stretching her legs out in front of her. She leaned back in the seat, and took a deep breath. She'd rest here for twenty minutes or so, then head back out. Maybe Glenn would come with her, and they could look some more before sunset.

* * *

Cutting open the walker hadn't exactly been the nicest of tasks he had ever done, and it had bothered him a hell of a lot more than it should have. He was used to cutting open various woodland animals and the gore didn't phase him then, but there was something different about being met with the insides of a human being, alive or not, and the smell was something awful. He had suggested it to Rick as a way of checking that the latest meal the walker had eaten had not been Sophia. Fortunately, it turned out to be a woodchuck. After they were done, he had quickly stripped off the shirt that he'd been wearing, and changed into something a little closer to clean. Before that, he and Rick had gone back to the water after their dissection activity and cleaned off their skin as best as they could. He was pretty sure death wouldn't catch on as the next big scent. The sun had finally started to set and the two of them had called off their search attempts until the next morning. Tomorrow, the whole group could go out and search, more eyes hopefully meaning a better chance of finding Sophia. He had let Rick go and break the news to Carol, while he had headed over for his truck.

He climbed into the drivers side where he was going to have to sleep for the night, and pulled the door shut, a little louder than he meant to. He only noticed the figure curled up in a fetal position at the passengers side when they began to stir.

"Crap, sorry, I must have dozed off-" Stef straightened herself out on the seat and turned to face Daryl, who was watching her with a confused expression. "I didn't mean to fall asleep here, I just didn't want to go to the RV.." she turned her head away to look out the window "..with Carol and stuff."

Daryl watched her fumble with the door handle before he let out a long breath. "Stay there if ya want." If she wasn't up for staying in the RV then he wasn't particularly sure where she would have went anyway. He wasn't entirely comfortable with it, but what could it hurt?

"Thanks," she gave him a small smile before curling herself back up again and resting her head against the window. "Any luck with Sophia?" Stef wasn't expecting much as he hadn't already told her she had been found, but she could always hope.

"Nah," he gave a small shake of his head even although she wasn't looking at him. "We're all gonna head out tomorrow, though. We'll find her." Stef's eyes were already starting to close and she was falling back into her sleeping state.

"We will," was the last thing Daryl heard her say quietly before her eyes fully shut. He wasn't sure how long he spent watching her, analyzing her. Her chest rose and fell softly as she left this cruel world into her dreams. After everything, they probably wouldn't be the best either. She looked so vulnerable like that and Daryl wanted to do something about it. He wanted to hold her, comfort her, reassure her. But he couldn't. Glenn would have been able to do that. Rick would have known what to do. But Daryl just didn't have a clue. Yes, he had kissed her, and hugged her, but he didn't know how to _be there_ for her. Because no one had ever needed him for that before. So all he could do was watch as she suffered quietly.

He caught her shiver as he studied her silently. It wasn't exactly freezing weather but the night air brought a chill that they forgot about through the day when the sun was blazing, and they didn't seem to dress well for the weather. He reached out quietly as he could for his bag of belongings, and pulled out the leather vest. He shuffled over in his seat and laid it out over the top of her, trying to cover up her bare arms. He froze in place as she stirred slightly, but relaxed when she didn't wake up. He sat back in his own seat, as he gave her one final look before closing his own eyes, hoping that he too could fall into sleep as easily for a couple of hours.


	12. Chapter 12

**Happy New Year! I know this isn't the cheeriest way to end the chapter but I can't wait for them to reach the farm and for Stef to meet Maggie. I really love Maggie's character and hopefully she'll appear in the story a lot. Hope you all have a great day today! **

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

_Sophia was back. She had just came from nowhere and climbed over the railing to look at the group. But she didn't look the same as she had when she left. Her hair was matted with blood and no longer the blonde locks that it used to be. Her t-shirt was dirty and ripped, making it hard to recognize the rainbow on the front. There was blood on her face, all around her small lips. And then there were her eyes, that milky white color that signified death. Sophia wasn't really back. Sophia was dead. And all Stef could do was watch as she ran forward towards her mother, who was desperate for a reunion, and take a bite out of her neck..._

Stef awoke from her dreams with a start. She was unsure of how many times she had that same dream that night, probably closer to be considered being a nightmare. She nearly banged her head off the top of Daryl's truck as she attempted to straighten herself up, forgetting for a moment the confined spaces they had all been reduced to sleeping in. Stef frowned when she realized there was a garment spread out over the top of her. She didn't remember having wrapped herself in anything before she went to sleep, although it wouldn't have been a bad idea. For the first time in twenty four hours, a genuine smile appeared on her face as she realized it was Daryl's leather vest warming her body. And if she hadn't put it there, there was only one other person who would have. She turned to look at where Daryl had slept the night before only to be met with an empty space. The sun wasn't risen fully yet, so obviously he wasn't one for sleeping in. She removed Daryl's vest from herself and folded it as neatly as she could setting it on the drivers seat, before climbing out her own side.

It felt nice to stretch out her stiff muscles as she stood upright. She was feeling a lot better about today. The sun was shining. It was a new day. It was a good day. And it was hopefully a day they would find Sophia.

"You really stayed in there last night?" Glenn was coming over towards where she was standing, and handed her over a bottle of water. She took it gratefully and opened it up before taking a long drink.

"Yeah, why?" Stef gave a small smile at his confused expression. She missed Glenn. She'd hardly had a chance to talk to him since the quarry, and everything had become dull. Her newly found best friend was great at cheering up any situation.

"No reason.. it's just T-Dog and I kinda had this theory, Daryl might have turned into The Hulk or something at night, and that's why he slept away from everyone else in the quarry." Stef couldn't help but laugh at this as Glenn kept a completely straight expression. Definitely good at cheering her up.

"I'll be sure to let you know if I see that happen." If only they knew. Daryl wasn't as scary as they all thought him to be. But she didn't imagine he'd appreciate her ruining his tough image, so she kept quiet for the time being. "What time are we heading out?"

"When everyone is ready I think. Once their all awake and had breakfast." Glenn nodded over towards the camp. Stef noticed Carol sitting by one of the cars, her eyes looking tired, most likely due to lack of sleep the night before. "I don't think she had a good night," Glenn looked over in Carol's direction also.

"I can't imagine she would have." Stef lifted her hand to her head and started to rub at the temples for a moment while her brain worked overtime. "Maybe I should try and talk to her."

Carol couldn't help her feelings. She had convinced Lori and Rick that she had been thankful to him and Stef for going after her daughter, but she couldn't understand why they had left her daughter out there. Sophia could have stayed by their side if they had to kill a walker, not been left in a hole in the rocks. She was only a child! Defenseless, scared and vulnerable. And she was alone in the woods somewhere. Carol watched as Stef approached where she was sitting and sat down quietly beside her. The younger woman didn't speak for a moment, instead just stared out into the distance in front of her.

"How are you doing?" Stef asked quietly, starting to play with a loose thread on her t-shirt. Carol nearly laughed at the question. She was having a fantastic time, of course. Stef seemed to realize and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, stupid question."

Carol only nodded in response. The two of them sat in silence for what seemed like forever before Carol finally said something. "I should get my stuff ready for today." Before Stef could answer, Carol had stood up and already began walking towards the RV. What slight good mood Stef had gotten from Glenn disappeared quickly as she let out a long sigh and watched the woman go.

* * *

"Everybody takes a weapon," Shane instructed, laying out an arsenal of various items on the front of one of the cars on the highway. Apparently, Carl had found the stuff yesterday when he had searched through one of the cars. He had done better himself than Stef, Lori and Carol had done put together. Andrea eyed the weapons, and a frown formed across her face before she turned to look at Shane.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need," she began, picking up what appeared to be a smaller version of an axe and dropping it back down onto the hood of the car again. "What about the guns?" Stef was sure Andrea had her own gun somewhere, as she had been fiddling with it in the RV, so she wondered why she didn't just take it with her.

"Daryl, Rick and I are carrying." Shane informed her in a tone that said the matter wasn't up for discussion. When he seen the displeased look on Andrea's face, he tried to argue his point. "Say someone fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. That is game over for all of us, so you need to get over it." He shot her one final look before distributing the rest of the weapons to the group. He gave Glenn a hatchet which Glenn examined thoroughly before turning to look at Stef with a grin. She couldn't help but give him a small smile back as Shane handed her the axe that Andrea had refused. She checked her knife was in it's usual position in her belt also before they left.

"The idea is to take the creek about five miles, come back down the other side." Daryl seemed uneasy giving his instructions to the group, not usually being the one looked to for advice, but everyone nodded their heads anyway. "Chance are she'll be by the creek." Hopefully.

"Stay quiet, stay sharp," Rick instructed and the group prepared to move. "Keep space between you but always keep sight of each other."

There was a small dispute between Dale and Andrea as the rest out the group waited quietly. They didn't manage to make out everything said between the two, but they did manage to get the part where Andrea wasn't thankful to Dale for saving her life. She was angry at him. Carl managed to convince his mother and father that he wanted to go along, and as everyone was in a hurry to get moving, they let him.

The group walked in a line. Stef stayed near the back walking alongside Carl as they all scanned the area for any sign of Sophia. Stef wasn't paying much attention to the conversations around her, but she did notice when Shane dismissed something Carl was saying and the boy's face fell. Stef gave him a small smile as he whispered quietly to her.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, looking in the direction of Shane. Stef didn't know what to say for a minute. Shane and Carl had been close at the quarry. So close in fact, Stef would have thought Shane was Carl's father if she didn't know the story. So when Rick had came back, Shane had become more distant from the boy. If he had issues with Rick and Lori, surely he didn't need to be taking them out on Carl. Stef shook her head slightly and ruffled the boy's hair.

"I'm sure he's just worried about Sophia." He seemed happy enough with this explanation and continued on with everyone else. They all came to a stop as Daryl slowed at the front of the line. It wasn't until they all followed his gaze they realized why.

Sitting in a small flat area of the woods, was a two man tent, surrounded by a couple of fold out chairs. The group looked at each other before the three men at the front started to move closer. If there was anyone alive in the tent, surely they would have heard the footsteps of the group by now and came out. Unless inside the tent, was the terrified little girl they were looking for. Daryl pulled out his knife and looked round the perimeter of the tent. It was zipped shut at the front, blocking the group from seeing whatever or whoever was inside. Rick instructed Carol to go forward and call out her daughters name a few times, hoping if she was inside she would come out for her mother.

The group all watched anxiously as the woman started to speak, each one of them silently praying and hoping that she would be successful. But Stef's heart sank further everytime there was no response to Carol calling out. The older woman continued, and her tone of voice became more like pleading than anything else. Carol sniffed quietly when she realized that nothing was going to happen, and she turned to rejoin the rest of the group. Stef wanted to reach her hand out and comfort her, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She just looked on as Daryl and Rick began to unzip the front of the tent.

As soon as it was a fraction open, both men turned away and coughed. The smell wasn't too good in there apparently then. Rick stood back from the offending tent but Daryl lifted up the front, and took a step in. He disappeared from sight as the tent shut behind him, and Stef walked forward a couple of steps. It had been about thirty seconds since Daryl had gone, and handn't said anything, that Stef called out his name quietly. "Daryl?" There was a rustle of movement inside the tent and Daryl reemerged, covering his nose with the back of his hand.

"Aint' her," he told Carol, and he started to walk away from the scene.

"What's in there?" Andrea asked from where she had been observing. From the reaction when they had first opened the tent and the look on Daryl's face when he came out, it wasn't anything good. That much wasn't hard to guess.

"Some guy did what Jenner said.. opted out. Aint' that what he called it?"

Suddenly, what sounded like church bells could be heard in the distance. There was a minute when everyone looked at each other confused, not sure if they had actually heard that or if they had just been imagining things. But when everyone's expression was the same the whole group broke into a run, trying to follow the direction the noise was coming from. Rick and Shane took lead of the group and they led them across the woods looking for the source of the bells.

"Maybe Sophia hears them too," Carol said hopefully from where she was running beside Stef. Stef spared a quick glance her way and gave her a quick nod of her head. Maybe every walker that was with them in the woods would also hear them. That would be more like their luck.

Eventually the group stumbled across a beautiful white church, surrounded by quite a fair sized graveyard. Everyone slowed down wary as to whether or not this was even the place that the noise had been coming from. There didn't look to be much sign of life, or death, around here. There was a sign signaling that they had arrived at the 'Southern Baptist Church' and Stef gave a small smile at the 'Bikers Welcome' handpainted sign that hung underneath it. In single file the group all approached the steps up to the entrance, stopping to let Rick, Shane and Daryl be the first ones to enter. Rick reached out for the door handle and pushed it open cautiously.

From where they were stood, each member of the group could make out the three figures, sitting in the pews. The way they slowly turned their heads around to stare at the group, was more than a little eerie, and the three men immediately took off towards them, with their weapons raised.

Once they had taken care of the three walkers, the rest of the group entered slowly behind them. Stef scrunched her face up slightly at the smell. Looking down at the walker that Daryl had recently put to a final death, it wasn't hard to tell they had been here a while. The dust had gathered up on top of her, with several cobwebs, giving her a whole new head of hair. There was no comforting feeling in this church like every other one Stef had gone to. This one was giving off unwelcoming vibes. And the most disturbing thing of all, was the statue of Jesus at the front of the church, covered top to bottom in blood.

"Yo JC, you takin' requests?" Daryl asked the statue at the front. Stef half smiled at the scene in front of her. She didn't imagine Daryl as being a church-goer before the world had come close to ending, and there was something slightly amusing about him in here.

The stillness was disrupted when the bells rang out again, much louder this time as they were so close. The group all ran outside, before Daryl had discovered they were on a timer.

"I think I'm gonna go back in for a bit," Carol said turning away, and going back towards the church.

Lori, Rick and Carl followed, as did Stef and Daryl. Glenn stayed outside to keep watch, and Shane and Andrea vanished around the side of the church. Carol took a seat at the front of the church, joined by Lori, as the other four stayed back at the doors. They couldn't make out what Carol was saying, but it was obvious she was praying, and it was obvious to them what for.

* * *

Shane and Rick had been chatting quietly for a bit over by the graves before they rejoined the group. "Alright, follow the creek bed back, Daryl, you're in charge." Stef wondered briefly for a minute what Shane and Rick were going to do if Daryl was now head of the operation. It was normally one of the two men in front of her. "Me and Rick are just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so."

"I'm coming with you," Stef said coming forward to stand in front of Rick. "You didn't let me help yesterday, so I'm coming today." She wasn't going to let Rick push her away from this one. She needed to feel like she was making it up to Carol, by spending as much time as she could out looking for Sophia. She glanced over at the woman trying to let her know that too, in the hopes that things wouldn't stay so awkward between the two of them.

"Alright," Rick gave a small nod of his head as he looked at the woman in front of him. He had an idea of what she was doing, and couldn't say no.

"Splittin' us up, you sure?" Daryl asked, his eyes watching Stef from across the grass.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you," Shane told the man, and the three of them turned ready to head back into the woods, when they heard a small voice coming from behind them.

"I wanna come too, I'm her friend." Carl had left the arms of his mother and was standing a short distance from Rick. Rick looked up to Lori, and for once she didn't seem like she was about to argue with him.

The whole group looked momentarily shocked as Lori gave a quick nod of her head. "Just be careful, OK?" Even Carl didn't seem like that was the answer he had been expecting to hear. He ran back over to give his mom a hug, as Rick joined in the family bonding. Shane stared at them, with an impatient and irritated look on his face. Stef felt a hand yank at her wrist, as Daryl pulled her off to the side, noticing once again Glenn's confused expression.

"Take this," Daryl pulled out a small handgun and showed it to Stef. "I brought two."

She shook her head and lifted up her t-shirt slightly to show him the knife on her belt, as well as waving around the axe in her hand. "I'm good."

"I don' care, I want you to take it," Daryl tried to convince her, but as she wasn't changing her mind, he changed his method. Instead of asking, he reached out to grab her free hand that she wasn't carrying an axe in, and settled the gun gently on her palm, but not letting go of it.

"No," Stef pulled her hand away rapidly like it was a piece of hot coal Daryl had given to her and not the small gun. She looked him in the eyes and said it more forcefully this time. "No." She had told Daryl the story, and he knew how much she didn't like them. She knew it was something she was going to have to work on, but it needed more time. All she had managed to do so far was run her fingers along Andrea's gun in the RV. Why was he pushing this now? He let out a huff of breath and shook his head at her before turning and walking away.

He managed to catch the tail end of a conversation between Rick and Lori as he went, where Lori was refusing to take Rick's gun and leave him unarmed. He scoffed slightly, and held the gun that Stef had refused out to Lori. "Here, I gotta spare. Take it." Lori took the gun from him without hesitation and Daryl had to stop himself glaring over at Stef. Why couldn't she just do the damn same? She didn't look at him as he led the people coming with him back towards the highway, and he had to pretend that it didn't bother him.

Stef stood with Shane and Carl, as they waited on Rick coming back out of the church. He had asked for alone time in there, and had been gone for at least five minutes. The sooner he came back, they could get on with their search, and hopefully put a hint of hope back into the group that seemed to be falling further apart.

* * *

Daryl was still pissed at her as he led what was left of his group back through the forest and towards the highway. She knew herself what kind of trouble that knife had gotten her into before, and yet she still refused the gun. Daryl had wanted to tell her the real reason he had been trying to give her the gun. _Because I want you to be safe_. But he couldn't. So instead he had done what he did best, and walked away from the situation, doing his best to keep his temper under control. And now he was stuck with the Chinaman and the women of the group, who kept shooting each other dirty looks, he was finding it harder to keep calm.

"So this is it?" He heard Carol's voice from behind him, and turned just in time to see her sit on the trunk of a fallen tree. That's not what he needed right now. He needed them back at camp, and safe, so he had done his job right. Then they could leave him alone. "This the plan?" Carol asked quietly, her hands gesturing around her.

"Guess the plan is to whittle us down to smaller and smaller groups," Daryl muttered from against the tree he was beside.

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks," Andrea added in from where she was standing. Since they had left camp this morning and she had been refused a gun, she had been sulking ever since. Daryl was apparently not the only one getting sick of it, as Lori walked towards the blonde woman, and pushed the gun Daryl had given her into Andrea's hands.

"You want it? There. Take it." Lori also took a seat on the tree that Carol was on. "Sick of the looks you're giving me." She then turned so she was looking directly at Carol. "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through right now. But you have got to stop blaming Rick and Stef." Daryl looked at the Sheriff's wife when she mentioned Stef. "I know you don't say it, but I can see it in your eyes everytime you look at them. When Sophia ran, they didn't hesitate to follow." Lori turned her head away, before defending her husband quietly. "Y'all look to him for advice, then blame him when stuff goes wrong. If you don't like it, then move on without him." Everyone looked at the woman after her outburst and Andrea walked over slowly. She handed the gun back to Lori before nodding in the direction of camp.

"We should get moving." And with that, everyone started silently on their travels again.

* * *

The four of them walked along in silence. Stef stayed slightly behind with Carl as Shane and Rick checked out the path they were walking. Every little noise seemed to have them on edge, and so when they heard the unmistakable rustle in the bushes, they all took their positions ready to fight, the men in front raising their guns.

But it hadn't been a walker that had caused the noise. It had been the most beautiful creature Stef had ever seen. A deer emerged from behind the trees to stand directly on the path that they had been walking. Stef stared in awe as it shook itself quickly and did a quick look around. She wasn't sure if the deer had spotted them or not, but regardless it stood still. If it had seen them, then it wasn't afraid. The only reason it should have been afraid would have been if Daryl had tagged along with their group. He wouldn't have thought twice about putting an arrow through the thing and having it for dinner. Which was probably a good idea, for the sake of them not starving, but she would rather have kept it as a pet... not that that was hardly even possible. She rolled her eyes at herself, thinking how bad of a hunter she would make.

Shane however, was apparently more focused on the food side of things, and raised his gun to aim at the deer. Stef was about to push his hand away and try to convince him to let the thing go, but she was surprised when Rick beat her to it. He nodded towards Carl who was starting to make his way forward, with a wide smile spread across his face.

Shane lowered his gun, and couldn't help but smile himself as Carl got closer to the creature. The deer had to have spotted them by now, but it had still remained in the same spot. All three of the adults watched as the boy stared in wonder.

And suddenly the most beautiful of scenes, became the most horrific one in a split second. Because that one second was all it took for the noise of the gunshot to ring out in the air, and for Carl's small body to drop to the ground. The three adults simply stared for a brief moment. It hadn't registered in their brains quite what had happened. And then it clicked. And in that very moment, Stef remembered exactly why she hated guns.

"NO!" That was the only yell to come out of Rick's mouth as the three of them immediately took of from where they had been standing, to reach Carl's still form lying on the ground. His blood was already starting to pool around him from the gunshot wound, just above his stomach area, and Rick dropped to his knees beside his boy. "No!"


	13. Chapter 13

**I promise I will get round to replying to ALL your kind reviews at some point soon, but I really just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed or favorited this story so far... it really does mean so much! Next chapter will be Glenn/T-Dog getting to the farm, Andrea and Daryl's walk in the woods, and maybe a bit of Shane/Otis at the High School.. Possibly the whole group reunion too! Enjoy :)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

"What the hell?" Shane was outraged. Nobody was entirely sure what had just happened. He had raised his gun in two seconds and had it aiming the man straight in the face. The man standing before them had just appeared from his hiding spot behind the bushes after his bullet had caused more damage than he had meant for it to. He stared in horror at the small child lying on the forest floor. Rick and Stef had crouched down beside him, and were using whatever they had to try and stop the rapid bleeding. Shane found himself noticing similarities to what he had been doing when it was Rick who had been shot. "You better fucking start explaining yourself," he snarled, tightening the grip on his gun.

"I.. the bullet was only meant to hit the deer.. I didn't even see him."He began stuttering, trying to move forward, but Shane not letting him go anywhere. The man appeared to be quite a bit older than Rick and Shane and he had a hunting rifle in his hand. He seemed to be genuinely distraught at the scene in front of him, and the fact he had just shot a kid. Shane was now pacing around him, gun still aiming where it would take his head clean off if Shane pulled the trigger. The man didn't know what to say for a minute or two and just stared at them all. A sudden thought must have hit him and he raised his hands, letting Shane know he wanted no more trouble. "I can get him help.. I know someone who can help!"

All three of the other adults immediately looked at him, Stef getting up from where she had been crouching beside Rick and Carl. "Where?!" They were desperate. Anything to save Carl's life.

"Follow me, we need Hershel" the man immediately turned and started running as fast as he could, which in all honesty wasn't that fast, in the opposite direction Rick's group had came from. They exchanged looks, but knew they didn't have any time to waste. Whoever Hershel was, if he could help Carl, they needed him. It didn't matter they would be getting further and further away from where they had started. They had to go. And so they ran as fast as their feet would take them. Rick had taken Carl into his arms, his blood quickly covering his uniform. All five of them ran across the forest floor, until eventually the trees became more spaced out, and they seen a field in distance. There was a lot of farmland in this area, and it must have been a farm house they were heading for. Maybe they might even know something about Sophia.

The older man eventually started to fall behind, much to Shane's fury. He stayed back with him, as the man pointed for Rick and Stef to go on. Before they moved, they noticed Shane shoving the man with his gun, forcing him to continue, even if he did look close to a heart attack. Stef ran alongside Rick, trying to keep up with him, as he was making especially quick work of closing the distance between themselves and the farmhouse that had came into view, even although he had Carl held tightly in his arms. Stef could hear how much pain he was in, probably both physically and emotionally, but he kept his eyes ahead of him and his feet kept moving.

Eventually, the farmhouse in the distance was right in front of them. Hopefully it was the right one, but there was nothing else in the surrounding area. It was a large white building, and there was a welcome committee waiting on the three of them on the porch. In a quick glance around, Stef immediately noticed the eldest man, who came forward first. Behind was a younger brunette, a younger blonde, and an older blonde woman, all of them looking in shock at the new arrivals. At the back of the group, there was a young boy, who appeared to be wielding a baseball bat. The eldest man rushed towards them and spoke up first. "He bit?" At least they had some idea of what was going on in the world, being aware of bites, although they were in a secluded spot.

Rick slowed to a stop in front of him, and tried to speak through his erratic breathing. "Shot. By your man. He said find Hershel, that you?" Rick started to beg the man for help as tears began flowing from his eyes. Hershel nodded and took Carl from the arms of Rick. Stef wondered if this man was a doctor, and maybe they had a little luck after all. They all hurried into the house, still no sign of Shane or the other man yet. The older blonde woman started to question the whereabouts of someone, Stef assuming that it was the man who had shot Carl.

"He's coming behind us," Stef said as she followed behind quietly as they all rushed into what looked to be a spare bedroom, and settled Carl on the bed. It was hard to tell if he was even still alive as Hershel instructed Rick to put pressure on the wound with a pillowcase. "Your name?" Hershel asked, finally finding a faint heartbeat in Carl, much to everyone's relief.

"Rick... my names Rick, I'm Rick." He was hardly able to string a sentence together, and Stef reached forward to grab onto Rick's hand.

"Rick, we're going to do everything we can, but you need to give us some space." All the people who had been standing on the porch, were now rushing around the small bedroom with various medical items, making it more cramped than it already was. Stef gave a gentle tug on Rick's hand.

"C'mon," she said quietly, guiding him over to the doorway, and back out into the outdoors air. It was so peaceful out there, so calm. The landscape was beautiful, which made a change in this new world. Voices could be heard a short distance away, and both of them turned their heads to see Shane rushing towards them with the man who had shot Carl. Rick reached his hand up to wipe at his forehead, but combined with the sweat from the run, it meant that Carl's blood ended up smeared all over him. Shane began to wipe at Rick's forehead with a rag trying to get the blood off, and followed Rick back inside. He didn't want to be away from his boy and Stef could understand that.

Stef looked at the man in front of her, clearly exhausted from his run. "He alive?" The man sounded worried, probably having received numerous threats from Shane on his trip here. Stef gave a small nod of her head and looked out over the fields, trying to keep her own tears from flowing. Carl didn't deserve this. None of them did. The man looked at her for a second, before starting to apologize. "I meant no harm to your boy, I was only trying to get us a deer."

Stef let out a long breath before turning towards the house again. "He's not my boy.. It's not me you need to worry about apologizing to." She had a feeling Rick and Shane weren't going to be great friends with the man anytime soon, even if it had only been an accident.

"You know his blood type?" Hershel asked as Stef re-entered the bedroom.

"A Positive, same as mine," Rick answered without hesitation.

"That's fortunate," Hershel replied, as Stef suddenly realized she could help in one way too. "Don't wander too far, I'm gonna need you."

"I'm A Positive too," Stef looked over at Hershel from where she was stood. "If he needs blood, I'm here." Rick gave her a quick nod of thanks, and Shane gave her half a smile. Stef had never been able to give blood before, always too wary of the needles, or getting some sort of infection, even although it wasn't close to likely. But today, they could stick as many needles or tubes or whatever as they wanted in her if it meant saving Carl. Hershel went on to explain that the bullet that had penetrated Carl had broken up inside him, and was now in six parts, much to their horror.

"Lori doesn't know," Rick began to sob again, as Shane tried his best to comfort him. When the new people looked at him in confusion, Rick clarified what he meant, "My wife doesn't know."

"This isn't your wife?" Hershel asked, gesturing towards Stef.

Stef only shook her head as she stepped forwards. "No, I'm just with his group." Truth be told, these people were more like family to Stef now than just a group, and she would do anything for them.

* * *

Stef rubbed at the small area where the blood had been taken from her as she stood up from Carl's bedside. She had stayed beside him to give Rick some time to calm down, so Rick and Shane had gone into the living room. Stef started to follow behind Hershel. She felt a little lightheaded at the sudden reduction of her blood, and the older blonde woman who had been identified as Patricia, put hand around her waist to steady her. The three of them entered the sitting room, and Shane helped Stef over to a chair when he realized she was a little wobbly on her feet. The younger brunette girl and the man who had shot Carl were also in the sitting room.

"He's out of danger," Hershel announced, gaining Rick's attention immediately. "But I need to remove those remaining fragments." That wasn't going to be an easy job at all. Hershel had already attempted to move one of the broken bullet pieces, resulting in screams of pain from Carl that Stef thought would have been audible back at the highway, and the boy eventually passing out from the pain. "I need to go deeper to get the others." Stef tried to focus her mind on happier things as Hershel went on to explain Carl also had internal bleeding. Things seemed to be getting worse and worse by the second for them. "Have to open him up, find the bleeder and stitch it. And he can't move while I'm in there, I mean at all. If he reacts the way he did, I might sever an artery and he'll be dead in minutes."

All the color visibly drained from Rick's face in seconds, leaving the red of his eyes standing out drastically from where he had been crying. The man who had shot Carl, now known as Otis, who was also Patricia's husband, had suggested going to a local high school where a shelter had been set up for medical supplies. If Hershel was going to perform an operation, he needed things that weren't already in the house, otherwise it wasn't even going to be possible to attempt to save Carl. Shane had volunteered himself to go, which Stef would have done too, but she wasn't feeling up for much action at the minute.

When it had been settled, Otis and Shane were going to go together. The guilt was eating at Otis, and he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Rick was grateful to the both of them, and stayed behind with Stef in case Carl needed more blood. He would. It was just a case of when. The brunette girl who had been in the room stepped up to where Rick was standing. "Where is she, your wife?"

* * *

Lori had been on edge ever since she had heard the gunshot. Her husband and her boy were out there somewhere, along with Shane and Stef. "Let's head back," she suggested, wanting to get back to the RV and see if the rest of them had made it back there yet. Noticing Carol's disappointed look, she turned to the older woman. "We'll find her tomorrow." The five of them continued to walk back through the forest towards the highway. It wasn't until they heard Andrea's terrified screams that they all froze. She had apparently ventured off track somewhere, and it was like a race to try and find her. When they all came into view and seen the blonde woman lying on the forest floor, a walker hovering over the top of her, something none of them ever expected would happen, played out before them.

A horse came into view, ridden by a woman with jeans and a pink t-shirt, holding onto a baseball bat. She swung the bat at the walker, and knocked him a good bit away from Andrea. The girl stopped in front of Andrea, and started to speak. "Lori? Lori Grimes?"

Lori ran up to the girl to tell her that she was Lori, and not the blonde girl lying in front of her. The girl on the horse seemed in a rush, and spoke so quick it was hard to make out what she was saying. "Rick sent me, you've got to come now. There's been an accident, Carl's been shot." Lori felt like someone had just kicked her in the stomach when she heard those words come out of the girls mouth. Her baby had been shot. Was he dead? "He's still alive, but you gotta come now." Lori only stared at the woman for a minute, slight relief at the fact Carl was still alive, but her feet apparently having stuck to the ground. "Rick needs you, just come!" The girl was getting more and more impatient by the second, and Lori moved forward. It couldn't be that bad, she knew who Rick was, and she knew who Carl was. And if Carl had been shot, whether she trusted this girl or not, she would have still gone with her.

Daryl apparently didn't share her way of thinking. "Woah, woah, woah, we don' know this girl!" Lori was already starting to climb onto the horse as Daryl began waving his arms around. "You can't get on that horse!" Too late, Lori already had. The girl got the horse ready to go as Daryl reached out to try and stop them. It could've been a trap, they had no idea.

"We have the other man and woman with us too." The girl shot Daryl a look as he took a small step back. They had his girl? Wait no, she wasn't his girl. She was just... what the hell did it even matter right now?! They still had Stef. And Shane, but that wasn't as important to Daryl. For all he knew, these people could have been murderers, or anything. "Rick said you had others on the highway?" Fucking great, Rick had even gone and given up their location. "Backtrack down the road, two miles down, you'll see the mail box, names Greene." Glenn made a small sound of agreement, from where he had been stood silently watching. When Daryl turned to look at him the younger boy seemed to have been mesmerized by the whole thing. And with that, the girl took off on the horse with Lori on the back of her, as the rest of the group stared after them in shock.

The walker that the girl had hit with the baseball bat took the opportunity to once again sit up and groan. Daryl was so past the stage of annoyance right now, he fired an arrow straight through it's head, not even bothering to retrieve it, and walked off. "Shut up." He muttered at it as he passed by. They had to get back to camp, get on the move, and get to that damn farm. As he walked, a thought struck him, that it could have been Stef who was shot. And he had tried to force a gun onto her. He had to admit that the thought hurt him more than a little. He had decided to himself he wanted to protect her, and he wasn't making a damn good job to start with. This was why he'd always tried to avoid caring.

* * *

Stef had left Lori and Rick to have some time alone with Carl when the girl had brought her back on her horse. Lori had barely even had anything register in her head, and just rushed to her little boy's bedside. It was revealed that Hershel wasn't actually a human doctor, but a veterinarian. It was better than nothing, though. Everyone was just hoping that Shane and Otis would come back, soon, with the stuff that was needed to perform Carl's operation. Stef had spent some time outside in the fresh air before finding herself in the kitchen of the house.

She had to refrain from pinching herself when the older of the two youngest girls on the farm, who were Hershel's daughters, set down a plate in front of her, with a small slice of chocolate cake on it, and beside it, a glass of orange juice. "You should eat this, get your strength back," the girl told her softly before sitting down on the seat opposite her. Stef only stared at the food for a minute, before picking up a fork and poking around at it a bit. It was definitely there. The girl looked at her strangely for a minute, furrowing her eyebrows. "You OK?"

Stef suddenly realized she must have looked like some kind of alien to the other girl and stopped playing with her food. "Yeah.. sorry, it's just I haven't seen food like this for a while." Stef had to think hard about when the last time was that she'd tasted chocolate. Probably around three months ago, or more. She gave a small smile thinking Carl would love this if he pulls through. No. When he pulls through. He was going to make it. He had to. Shane and Otis would come back, and they would have the stuff that Hershel needed for Carl's operation. The boy often fussed over the food he was getting at camp, and chocolate would be sure to put a smile back on his face.

"That must be hard," the girl said quietly, and Stef looked her in the eyes as she nodded her head. "I'm Maggie, by the way. What's your name?"

"Stef." She didn't know Maggie, but automatically she liked her. She looked around the same age as her, and Stef had missed having her girl friends around. Andrea and Lori were great, but they always had other stuff going on, and never really had the time to talk. Maggie seemed kind and willing to help anyone. "I just wish we were meeting in better circumstances." Maggie gave her a small laugh and nodded her head.

"I know what you mean. How many more is in your group?" Stef had to think for a minute before she answered. There had originally been over thirty of them altogether, but it had been reduced to just eleven. Twelve, if they were counting Sophia. "What were y'all doing in the forest?"

"Looking for a little girl," Stef answered quietly, quickly making her way through the cake on the plate. It was like it might vanish if she didn't eat it quick enough, and she was trying to avoid that happening. "Couple of days ago, we ran into some trouble, and she got lost in the forest. Once we find her we're moving onto Fort Benning." Stef couldn't help think for a minute how nice it would be to stay here. They were out of view of the highway and had a fairly large area of land. Hershel seemed to be keeping chickens and other animals on the farm which would last them for food a while, and then the men could hunt. It was wishful thinking, but maybe with luck it could happen.

Maggie looked at where her father was in a room working on Carl and lowered her voice. Her father hadn't exactly given her permission to bring them all back here, but Maggie could see these people had become like family to each other. Stef had given her blood to Carl even although she was already frail, and Shane had taken off to find medical supplies for the boy, knowing that there might be danger where he was going. "I assume you'll be staying here til' the boy is better.. I told your group where we are, and how to find us. The angry one didn't seem too pleased, but hopefully they'll come."

The angry one. "Daryl," Stef said quietly, a small smile forming on her lips. Maggie seemed to notice but didn't say anything. Instead, she stood up and took away the plate from in front of Stef. "The bathrooms upstairs, you can take a quick shower if you like," Maggie offered, and turned to put the plate into the sink. Stef looked down at herself. She was covered in blood. Her own, Carl's, and various other contributors. She felt bad for invading these people's clean house for a moment. "I'll get something for you to wear." Stef nodded appreciatively and started to make her way towards the Greene's bathroom.

The shower felt amazing. It hadn't been long since the C.D.C., but after having spent almost two days in the forest, with plenty of walkers for company, it was great to wash off all the grime. Maggie and her sister, whom she hadn't spoken to yet, seemed to have thousands of different products littered all over the bathroom. Stef had chosen a shampoo that had a strawberry scent, much nicer than the smell of death they were used to. Maggie had left out some of her clothes that Stef could wear, and luckily, they fit almost perfectly. They hung off her body slightly, and it was only when Stef exited the bathroom, Maggie realized how short of food they actually had been. She gave Stef a small, sympathetic smile, before guiding her towards her bedroom. "You can stay in here for the night."

"Thank you," Stef smiled at how Maggie had tried to create a bed for her on the floor. She had made it a bit more comfortable by laying down blankets for underneath, as well as on top of her. "For all you and your family have done."

"Not a problem," Maggie smiled at her before heading back towards the doorway. She was going to check on the boy and get a bit of fresh air before she went to her own bed, hopefully not waking Stef up. "You should get some sleep." She closed the door behind her, and the room became close to dark, only slightly illuminated by the glow from the light in the hallway, and the dim light from the window. It wasn't even completely dark outside yet, but Stef felt exhausted.

She lay down on top of the bed Maggie had set up for her on the floor and wrapped one of the blankets around herself. Although the floor underneath was hard, it was surprisingly comfortable in the pile of soft blankets. She'd had food, taken a shower, and was nice and warm in a pile of bedding, but she couldn't help feel there was something missing. That something being Daryl. He hadn't been happy with her last time they had spoken, and she wasn't entirely pleased with him either, but Stef wanted nothing more than to have him here. It was comforting to even just sleep close to him, like she had last night. Maggie had told the group to come here, but they hadn't turned up yet, and Stef's mind was racing with reasons as to why, none of them being particularly good. Hopefully they were all OK, and they'd be here soon.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hope you all enjoy! We have a half reunion here, but I'm more looking forward to the next chapter!**

**Also.. Happy Birthday Norman Reedus!**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

_He had to do it._

That was what Shane had told himself over and over again as his hands gripped tighter to the steering wheel of the truck as he drove back to the farm. The truck that only had one occupant, and not the two that it should have had.

_Because Otis was dead._

In fact, he had probably came back to life by now, and was likely staggering around with the rest of the walkers they had came across at the High School. If there had been enough of him left to get up.

Shane had watched him being torn apart and his insides spilled out all over the ground, like some sort of sick buffet.

_But he had to do it._

Because if he hadn't done what he did, neither of the two of them would probably be driving back to deliver the medical supplies needed for Carl's operation. And he'd be damned if he was going to let that happen.

_So he'd shot Otis._ The scene began to play out in his head again as he drove.

_The older man was falling behind again, much like he had done on the way to Hershel's farm in the first place. It was obvious from just looking at him he was nowhere near as fit as Shane was, and even more obvious when they were trying to keep the same pace. Shane had been slowed down considerably too from the injury to his ankle. Things hadn't gone to plan at the High School, to put it one way. After their initial success at managing to distract the walkers that were blocking the entrance to where they had needed to go, by throwing flares which took their attention away, they had retrieved the items they needed and were ready to make a break for the truck and get back to the group._

_But as soon as Shane opened the door, every walker in the area turned to look at him. And run at him. So he and Otis had ran as fast as they could go with their now rather heavy rucksacks on their back through the dead army. But they had been cornered, and found themselves backing into the High School. Probably not the best of ideas in the first place. They had managed to barricade themselves in, and that kept them from the jaws of the walkers outside, but there were more than likely a large amount in the actual school. They made their way through, trying to find an exit that would bring them out close to their truck._

_After running into some trouble with a large group of walkers, Shane and Otis had to separate, and the only way Shane had gotten out of the building was by finding a window, a higher distance away from the ground than he would have liked, and jumping onto the grass below. The pain that shot through his ankle and up his leg then was strong, but he forced himself to get up and keep going. After running along for a few minutes himself, he was starting to think that the walkers had gotten to Otis. He had given up hope for the man. But soon his figure appeared in the distance, and soon they were back together._

_Until now. Shane grimaced as the older man fell to the ground slightly, trying to pull himself and the weight of the rucksack back up. The walkers that were following behind were closing in on them, and it was only a matter of time before one of them became dinner. Shane didn't have the time to hang back. Carl needed him. He didn't need his own father at the minute. He needed __**him**__. And he was going to get back to the boy. Make Lori proud. Before it registered in his own head what he was about to do, he raised his gun and turned around to Otis. The burden had to go. With a sharp breath, his finger pulled the trigger, and Otis went down again with a cry of pain. Shane rushed over to beside him, and started to try and free the rucksack from the older man's back. He felt a hand reach up and pull at his hair, along with scratching at his neck and shoulder several times. Otis wasn't going to let him get away that easy._

_"I'm sorry," Shane muttered, not exactly sure who we was apologizing to. Otis? Patricia? Himself? Otis wasn't for giving up, and tried gripping Shane's leg before he could get away. He only slackened his grip when he felt the first pair of teeth sink into the flesh on his leg. Shane yanked one more time, this time the rucksack coming free from Otis, and he ran. Ran as fast as his legs would take him, just as the walkers finally got to their meal._

Why hadn't he shot him in the head?

Shane had heard the man's agonizing cries as the pain seared through his body. A headshot and it could have been all over for him. He reached his hand up to rub at his face, and felt the wetness of his cheek, when he realized tears had began to fall.

What the fuck had he done?

* * *

Glenn and T-Dog had eventually reached a farmhouse, just like the girl on the horse had said they would. At least that was one thing she might not have been lying about. The group had decided when they had gotten back from their search for Sophia, that only Glenn and T-Dog were going to be the ones going to the farm tonight. Carol wanted to stay behind in case Sophia arrived back at the highway, understandably. Dale, Andrea and Daryl had all volunteered to stay with her, and Glenn would have done too, had it not been for the wound on T-Dog's arm. The man was becoming ill due to the lack of medical supplies that they had, and he would be in better care here hopefully. As he was in no fit state to drive, Glenn had ended up tagging along.

The both exited the car, which had once belonged to the Peletier family, and slowly started making their way towards the door. Glenn looked at T-Dog, as he wasn't entirely sure what to do next. "So do we ring the bell?" Glenn asked, always being used to having good manners, and not just wanting to barge into someone's property. "I mean, it looks like people live here."

T-Dog shook his head at the boy and rolled his eyes. "We're past this kind of stuff, aren't we?" T-Dog damn well hoped someone lived here, and their journey hadn't been for nothing. Rick, Stef and the others had to have been somewhere.

It wasn't until she spoke that the two of them noticed the girl sitting hugging her knees on the chair situated on the porch. "Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?" Both men looked at each other quickly, before turning back to her, realizing she had probably heard them. Glenn recognized her face immediately.. the girl from the horse. And now he could get a better look at her.. the freaking hot girl from the horse.

Glenn stuttered for a minute from where he was stood staring. "Uh, hi." That wasn't what was meant to come out, damn it. "Yes, we closed it. Did the uh.. latch and everything" The girl looked momentarily amused as her eyes studied his face. "Well, nice to see you again." Oh god, what the hell was wrong with him. He could feel T-Dog's gaze on him too as he continued to make a fool of himself. "We met before briefly."

"Yeah, we should head inside, I'll make y'all something to eat." If they were as glad to see food as Stef had been then she was about to have two very excited men on her hands.

"Um.. you said our girl was here?" Glenn asked, hesitating slightly. He couldn't keep his eyes off the girl in front of him, and an overwhelming shy feeling had come over him. She gave him a small smile, nodding her head towards the house.

"She's in there, I think she's asleep though." Maggie stood up from her seat on the porch. "I can take you to her if you like?" Glenn smiled and nodded his head. He missed his friend, although they had only been separated for a couple of hours. She had seen so much today, and probably wasn't feeling herself. No one was.

On their way in, they passed a slightly open door, and out of the corner of his eye, Glenn noticed the small shape of Carl lying on a bed. He stopped in his tracks, T-Dog doing the same behind him, and reached out slowly for the door handle. Pushing it open a little more, he slipped through quietly, so as not to startle Lori and Rick who were sitting at the bedside."Just to let you know we're here if you need us," Glenn said quietly, with T-Dog nodding in agreement from behind him.

"Thank you," Rick replied softly. His voice sounded strained, and he barely met the younger man's eyes as he spoke. Glenn glanced quickly at Carl, his heart dropping slightly. The small boy looked so fragile on the white sheets, which had been stained red with his blood. He wasn't even entirely sure what had happened. Who had shot him? Why? He lowered his head, and started to back out of the doorway, as he felt a lump forming in his throat. Why couldn't they just have a bit of good luck?

When they were back out in the hallway, Maggie's eyes darted down to the wound on T-Dog's arm. Daryl had managed to find him some pills that had belonged to Merle, and that had taken some of the pain away slightly. But the large cut was why they had came here in the first place when the rest of the group had stayed behind.

When T-Dog noticed what she was looking at he, he lowered his head slightly. "It's not a bite, I cut myself pretty bad, though."

"You should get that looked at. Go on in there, I'll get Patricia." Glenn wondered who Patricia was, as the girl showed T-Dog into a kitchen area. "Stef is upstairs, second door on the left." Glenn could have sworn she gave him a smile as she turned away to follow after T-Dog.

He had to admit it, she was beautiful. He found himself feeling slightly better as he started to climb the stairs, and turned to give a soft knock on the door Stef was hopefully in. He smiled as he heard her gentle voice telling him to come in, and seen her sitting up from a pile of bedding on the floor.

"Hey," he said quietly moving over towards her, and kneeling down on the floor. "How you doing?"

Stef leaned forward from where she was sitting and wrapped her small arms around his back, pulling him into a hug. She hung on for quite a while before she finally pulled back. "Been better," she laughed softly. "What about you? Is everyone here?"

"No, just me and T-Dog. Carol, Dale, Andrea and Daryl stayed behind in case Sophia came back." Glenn didn't miss when Stef's face dropped slightly as he mentioned the whole group wasn't here. There was obviously someone she wanted to see more than him, and it made him smile slightly when he realized who. She wanted Daryl here. He didn't know how he hadn't guessed it before. The two of them were spending quite a bit of time together, and Daryl did more than just growl at her, like he did with most people. "They're coming in the morning," he assured, and Stef nodded her head.

When Glenn had mentioned Sophia, Stef felt bad for a split second, having pushed the girl to the back of her mind after everything that had happened with Carl. "I'm guessing there was no luck finding Sophia then?"

"Nothing. We looked for about two hours after you guys left, no sign of her. Then the girl on the horse turned up." Glenn suddenly felt his cheeks heat up, and Stef must have noticed before she gave a small chuckle.

"I think Glenn has a crush," she teased, enjoying the boy's sudden discomfort.

"I think Stef does too," Glenn retorted, smiling when her own face started to redden. "Who'd have thought Dixon would be attracting the ladies?"

Stef laughed again, giving him a gentle, playful shove. "Shut up. Where's T?"

"He's downstairs, getting his arm patched up. Cut it pretty bad when that herd passed by on the highway." He hadn't been looking too great at all, and it was more than likely his cut was infected by now. Maybe in some ways it was a good thing they had ended up here, so he could get the help he needed. Glenn finally got to ask the question he had been wanting to since the girl rode into the forest on her horse. "What happened today.. with Carl?"

Stef took a deep breath, the smiles gone from both their faces. "We were looking for Sophia, and we came across a deer. It was beautiful.." Stef paused for a minute, remembering the scene in her head, and how good they had felt then. "Carl went forward to look at it.. and Otis had been hunting and shot the deer, his bullet going straight through and hitting Carl."

"Otis?" Glenn asked. "He own this farm?"

"No, him and his wife were neighbors of Hershel, the man who owns the place. Otis is out with Shane right now, looking for supplies for Carl's operation." It was only then Glenn realized he hadn't seen Shane yet, with him apparently elsewhere.

The two of them became quiet for a few minutes, just happy to have been reunited. Soon they heard the door open slightly, and Maggie popped her head around. "There's something to eat for you on the table.. uh..?"

"Glenn," he smiled, getting up from where he had been sitting. Stef couldn't help herself and smiled to herself too. "Thanks, I'm just coming down." He watched as the girl closed the door behind him, and he bent down to give Stef another quick hug. "Night."

"Goodnight, Glenn," she said softly, as the boy left the bedroom. She laid her head back down where she had been trying to sleep before and closed her eyes. Eventually, she started to drift off, all the drama of the day catching up to her. Before she fell asleep fully though, she heard another car engine outside. Shane and Otis must be back. Everything would be alright. Carl would be alright. Sophia would be found, and she'd be alright. Everything.

* * *

Where the fuck had all these emotions come from? Daryl was feeling... upset. That never happened. And it was all because he could hear the soft cries coming from Carol as she sobbed for her daughter in the back of the RV. Dale had decided that it would be best for them if they all stayed in the one place for the night. So Daryl had settled himself down on the floor, and tried to get a few hours sleep. But the pained noises coming from the older woman not too far away from him seemed to be preventing that, not to mention the blonde woman at the table fiddling with his damn gun, so he sat up straight, rubbing at his eyes as he did so.

"Need my clip now," Daryl said, getting up to stand over Andrea. She handed it back to him, and he put his gun back together before picking up his crossbow. "Imma' walk the road, look for the girl."

He needed to get out of there. Get some fresh air. And he could look for Sophia when he was out. He grabbed a flashlight from the table of the RV and started to make his way outside. He heard Andrea shuffle at the doorway behind him, and as he turned she looked up at Dale. "I'm coming too."

Great.. that was just what he needed. The blonde woman had been teetering on the edge of insanity ever since Dale had stopped her from trying to kill herself at the C.D.C. Now he'd have to wait through an argument between the two of them, and he didn't have the patience for that. "We're gon' take a walk," Daryl advised Dale, knowing that the older man wouldn't try and argue with him. "Shine a light, if she's out there, it'll give her somethin' to look at."

The two of them began walking through the pile of cars on the highway, not saying a word. They had barely spoken since they had first met, and Daryl doubted they'd have a hell of a lot in common. There was someone else he'd much rather have with him on his walk, but he had no idea where she was. Hell, he didn't even know if she was alive.

Eventually they found themselves back in the forest, Daryl not sure how many times now he had been here.

"You really think we're gonna find Sophia?" Andrea suddenly asked from beside him. Daryl turned to look at her and scoffed slightly. She didn't, that was for sure. In fact, he was starting to think he was the only person left who thought they'd find the girl.

"You got the look on your face," Daryl grunted, having to stop his anger at these people from flowing out. "Same as everybody else. The hell's wrong with you people? It ain't the mountains of Tibet.. it's Georgia"

Andrea shook her head slightly at the man. "She's only 12." Out of all the people in the group, Sophia was probably the least likely to be able to survive on her own.

Daryl found himself almost laughing at the woman. If only these people knew. "Hell, I was younger than her, an I got lost." Andrea raised her eyebrows as he recalled the story, which would have been pretty funny, had it been told in a different situation. "Nine days, in the woods, eatin' berries, wipin' my ass with poison oak. Old man was off on a bender with some waitress, an Merle was doin' another stint in juvie. Made my way back though, straight to the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear, cept' my ass itched somethin' awful."

Andrea couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped then. She hadn't imagined Daryl to be funny with his storytelling. "I'm sorry... that is a terrible story," she still laughed as she apologized, and she could have sworn that was the first time she had seen a flicker of a smile on the man's face.

"Only difference is Sophia's got people lookin' for her. I'd call that an advantage," Daryl took a few larger strides ahead, so he was in front of Andrea. Why was he sharing all this stuff with her anyway? Andrea felt a sudden pang of sympathy for him. If she had picked up what he said correctly, that meant he had spent nine days alone, with no one looking for him. No one caring about him.

Some time later and the two of them stopped abruptly when they heard the all too familiar moaning sound of the dead. But this one wasn't free and walking around, they were hanging off a tree, fidgeting about trying to get loose. A mix of the sight and the smell made Andrea turn her head away and cough trying not to empty what little she had left in her stomach.

"Look at 'im," Daryl said, slowly walking closer. "Hangin' up there like a big pinata..." Daryl noticed a note stuck to the tree, and pulled it off, reading aloud.

_Got bit,_

_Fever hit._

_World gone to shit,_

_Might as well quit._

"C'mon" Daryl turned to walk off, as the walker continued swinging around in the tree. Andrea looked at him, eyebrow once again raised.

"Aren't you gonna..." She was going to suggest ending him for good, and Daryl knew what she meant.

"Nah, ain't wastin' an arrow. Made his choice. Opted out," Jenner's words still sounded so eerie every time they were spoken, reminding them of the incident at the C.D.C. Andrea especially. She started to get closer to the walker and stared at it for a minute, as it desperately tried to get closer to take a bite out of her.

"Wanna live now... or not?" Daryl startled her, and she spun around to face him. "Just a question."

Andrea chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, debating whether or not to answer him. She doubted he could care less either way. The sight behind her was freaking her out, and she came up with a solution. "Answer for an arrow?" Daryl nodded his head in agreement. Andrea sighed as she thought how best to answer it. "I don't know if I want to live now.. or if I have to.. or if it's just a habit."

"Not much of an answer," Daryl complained as he aimed for the walkers head. He shot his crossbow, and expertly struck the walker straight through the head. "Waste of an arrow."

* * *

Stef was alone at the dining table the next morning, not having seen anyone since she had awoken. Maggie wasn't in her bed, and she wasn't sure where Glenn and T-Dog had slept. She had poured herself a glass of orange juice, hoping that the Greene's wouldn't mind too much, and sat on one of the hard wooden chairs. She wondered how Carl was getting on. If he was even alive. No, he would be. Otis' truck was outside, so the two of them had to have arrived back OK. She hadn't seen Otis' wife this morning strangely enough, as she had spent most of her time in the kitchen yesterday, when she wasn't working on Carl.

"Sleep well?" Rick's voice startled her from her own thoughts as she turned to see his figure leaning against the doorframe. She gave him a small smile, as he came to take a seat opposite her.

"Not bad thanks. How is Carl?" Rick seemed happier this morning, which surely signified good news. If something bad had happened through the night, she couldn't think he would be as upbeat.

"Better." Stef let out a sigh of relief when Rick spoke. "We got the stuff we needed last night, and Hershel managed to perform the operation. We almost thought Shane wouldn't make it back on time, but thankfully he did."

Stef smiled at the man after hearing the news. Everything had been OK. Now it was just Sophia they had to worry about. "Otis didn't make it." Rick finished, a sad look being cast over his face. Maybe everything didn't work out. Stef's mouth just formed an 'o' shape and she nodded her head. "We're going to have a funeral service this morning, not much, but for Patricia." Stef nodded in understanding, realizing it was empty because everyone was probably preparing for that and not in the house.

"Lori and I just wanted to thank you," Rick looked at her with a warm smile. "For what you did, the whole blood transfusion."

"No problem," Stef replied, before giving a small chuckle. "I'd just like to think someone would do the same for me."

Rick laughed softly, and nodded his head. "Of course." He stood up, and ever the gentleman extended a hand to help get her up too. "C'mon, we should head outside. See what we can do." They started walking towards the front entrance, Stef glancing quickly into the room where Carl was. He was fast asleep on the bed, his small chest rising and falling gently. Hopefully not in so much pain now.

The two of them had just reached the porch when a familiar sound filled the air. There were vehicles approaching, but more precisely, there was a motorcycle approaching. Merle's motorcycle.

Stef moved forward slightly so she was standing on the first step of the porch as the three vehicles pulled to a stop outside. There was Andrea. There was Dale. There was Carol.

And there was Daryl.

Daryl climbed off his motorcycle and turned to inspect the farmhouse they had arrived at. And then his eye's met hers across the space. The ones that he had missed, even although it hadn't been twenty four hours since he had last looked into them. She was right there in front of him. And she was OK.


	15. Chapter 15

**So this isn't really a proper chapter.. shorter than it should be, I just wanted Stef/Daryl time :) Next chapter, we'll go back to the events of Cherokee Rose that I missed here, like Andrea/Shane/Carol at the highway, and of course, Glenn/Maggie at the pharmacy! Hope you enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

Daryl wasn't exactly sure what he had expected Stef to do, but he knew it wasn't just for her to give him a quick nod of her head, and follow Rick away. She had barely even acknowledged he was here before she had walked off. And all he did was stand and stare after her. His first thoughts were that something bad had happened, maybe to the boy, or she was still mad at him about the gun. He noticed Glenn walking over from a group of people stood outside, only around a third of which he recognized. Glenn glanced over at Stef's retreating form, before looking at the man in front of him, confusion written on his face.

"Uh.. we're about to have a funeral service," Glenn began, with everyone momentarily panicking. Something had definitely happened then. "You're all welcome to join."

"Carl?" Dale asked, the eldest man's voice full of concern and sadness.

Glenn immediately shook his head forgetting they weren't up to date with what was going on here. "Oh, no, no. He's in the house, doing better." The group simultaneously let out sighs of relief as they looked at Glenn for answers. "Otis.. the man who shot Carl. He was killed last night."

"Rick or Shane do it?" Daryl asked after a moment, half joking but picturing that the two men wouldn't have been happy with this Otis person. It was hardly something Rick would do, but he wouldn't have put it past Shane. There was something funny about that man, and not in a good way.

"No, walkers." Glenn confirmed, wondering in his own head what had actually happened. Shane had been sketchy with the details, and as soon as he had came in last night he went straight to the bathroom to shave his head, for some unknown reason. "He and Shane went out last night to get supplies Carl needed, only Shane came back."

Daryl looked over to where the ex-cop was standing, an unreadable expression on his face as he stared at the 'grave' they had set up. Daryl almost had to refrain himself from laughing at the way the idiot was dressed, wearing clothes that had got to be around ten sizes too big for him. Someone had obviously let him borrow some. The head of thick, black hair that Shane previously had was also gone.

Lori was standing with the women that Daryl didn't recognize, along with a younger boy. Beside them was Rick, who had kept his gaze on the ground, as he stood beside Stef. Who still hadn't said one word to him...

* * *

The truth was, Stef didn't know what to say to him. She knew if she had ran over to him, all she would have wanted to do was put her arms around him and hold on. And she wouldn't have wanted to let go. Which was not something they had the time for. Not to mention, she had the feeling that she made Daryl uncomfortable by doing such things. So she had avoided him altogether, and walked over to where the Greene family and friends had began to mourn the loss of Otis. They didn't have him there to bury, which only made it harder for Patricia. She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to her husband one last time.

Everyone quietened down as Hershel began to conduct the service. All of the Greene family looked like they had lost one of their own as Maggie and her sister were close to tears where they stood. Patricia put on a brave face as she stepped forward. "How did it happen?" she asked Shane, midway through Hershel's speech. "I just want to know he didn't die for nothing."

Shane momentarily stared at the woman before looking around the group, a hint of surprise on his face. Patricia had caught him off guard with the question, and everyone seemed to pick up on that. He retold the story of what had happened at the High School, claiming that if it hadn't been for Otis, then Carl wouldn't still be alive. Rick and Stef exchanged a look when Shane finished, knowing if they hadn't brought Carl here, Otis would probably still be alive. And if they hadn't lost Sophia, Carl wouldn't have been shot. Patricia looked at Rick, Stef and Shane in turn before being escorted back to the house as the funeral service broke up. Surely someone else didn't blame them for another death?

* * *

Daryl had set up his tent away from the others slightly, keeping it round the side of the house and not at the front. He was sat outside it, preparing his arrows so he could go off and look for Sophia. Alone. Because, although he was struggling to convince himself, he did better alone. He had felt something for a split second earlier, when Stef had almost completely ignored him, and it didn't feel good. She didn't care. She was like all the rest. His father had been right about one thing... no one ever would love him. Merle maybe, in his own strange way, but no one that wasn't a family member. He didn't want it to be true, but he had felt invisible most of the morning. She'd probably found someone else here, better looking than him, better manners than him, better-

"Hey," he nearly dropped the arrow he was holding to the ground when she spoke quietly from behind him. Before he could bring himself to tell her to leave him alone, she had sat down cross-legged on the ground beside him. Whatever it was, he didn't want to hear it. He would rebuild the bricks to the wall of his heart, that she had been very slowly knocking out, and stay away from everyone. "I'm sorry... about earlier." Stef ran a hand through her hair, and started to fidget around. Maybe he did want to hear it.

"What about it?" Daryl asked roughly. He had to pretend he didn't care. That it didn't bother him.

"How I avoided you," she admitted, eventually straightening herself up to look in his eyes. "Honestly, I was more than happy to see you." Daryl watched her, interested in what was coming next. "But.. Patricia had just lost Otis. Carol.. she's still lost Sophia. And I didn't think... I didn't think it'd be right if I was to be happy with what they're going through. So I kept away."

Daryl sat back slightly, him now being the one not having anything to say. The whole situation was messed up. She had gone from making him feel bad in one way, to a completely different way. Because his little thought outburst before she had appeared was now making him feel awful. She _did _care. He didn't know why, but she did.

"Everything's just..." she sniffled quietly her voice trailing off, which Daryl noticed as he frowned softly. Daryl seemed to be the only person she cried around for some reason, which annoyed her to no end. "Again.. I'm sorry. I wish I'd met you before all this." Daryl noticed when she uncrossed her legs that she was about to stand up, and automatically reached out to grab her wrist. He tugged with a little more force than necessary and she ended up inches away from his face. He didn't have words now, only actions. Her brown eyes seemed to be burning straight through him, as he leaned forward to press his lips to hers.

Oddly, the first thing that registered with him was that her hair smelt of strawberries, and he reached a hand up to entangle itself in it. Easing her closer, he licked at her bottom lip, looking to deepen the kiss. She complied almost instantly, and their tongues met for the first time as they lost themselves in the moment. It wasn't anything like the last two times he had kissed her, it was with a lot more feeling this time. Daryl moved his hand from her hair, trying not to pull at it, and stroked gently at her cheek, marveling at how soft her skin had remained through everything under his own rough hands.

Their lips disconnected as they both pulled back to take a deep breath, but Daryl rested his hand where it was. "I'm gon' out lookin' for Sophia," he said quietly, not wanting to depress her too much again. "Do uh.. do ya wanna' come?" It was almost like a date these days. A chance to be alone. A chance to talk. If he had met Stef before all this, he would have done it properly, dinner and shit. He'd finally met someone who had deserved that. But this was the best they had now. She gave a simple nod of her head before she leaned in to kiss him again.

They only broke apart when they heard a quiet mumbling coming from behind them. Stef spun around to see Glenn trying to suppress a smile. "Oh man... sorry. I uh.. I was looking for Maggie." Unable to keep it in any longer, he giggled quietly, as Daryl got up and strode past him, shooting him an angry gaze as he did so.

"Shut it, Chinaman. I'll get ya at the truck," Daryl said over his shoulder to Stef who gave him a quick smile, before getting up and walking over to Glenn.

"So.." Glenn's mouth broke out into a large grin as Stef felt a blush forming on her own face.

"So nothing Glenn," Stef cleared her throat, hoping to avoid the subject. "And no, we haven't seen Maggie. Why? Where are you and the farmers daughter off to?"

"Into town, to the pharmacy." Glenn was usually the supply run guy, but this time Maggie was coming along, and he wasn't going to complain about that. Not one little bit. He got to spend the afternoon with her, and Stef got to spend the afternoon with Daryl. Things were looking good for the pair of them, very much so after what he had just witnessed. "Is there anything you need while I'm there?" They were just looking for supplies in general. The only person who had given him a specific item to retrieve was Lori. Lori and her damn-

"No, I'm good thanks," Stef replied, as she looked to where Daryl was waiting. "But I should get moving. Have fun." Stef gave Glenn a small wink and a quick smile as she began to walk away. Glenn was clearly excited to be spending some alone time with Maggie, and it made her feel like a proud big sister. She shook her head at herself as she approached Daryl. "Shall we get going?"

"You're going too?" Rick asked from where he had been standing beside Daryl, his eyes roaming over the map that Maggie had found for them. "You think that's a good idea? You gave blood yesterday too," he reminded her, pointing to where the needle had been in her arm. Hershel had stopped Rick from going anywhere as he had gone through two transfusions, and Shane had been told to stay and rest his ankle that he had injured.

"I'm OK," Stef assured him, giving his arm a quick squeeze. She knew she would be fine.. Daryl was going to be with her after all. "Tell Carl I said hey when he wakes up."

* * *

The two of them had continued into the forest, and had been walking for about half an hour before they stumbled across another farm house. This one was much smaller than the one Hershel and his family had been living in, and it would have made a great hiding place for Sophia had she needed one. They approached carefully, Daryl taking the lead, in case there was anything dangerous inside. After a quick check of the interior, they both entered fully and frowned at the smell. More death.

Daryl moved over to the table when he seen an open tin and started to inspect it. He stuck his nose in then pulled back immediately when he realized it was a tin of Sardines he was holding onto. It looked like someone had opened them recently. "Hey, take a look here." Daryl showed Stef the food, hoping maybe it was Sophia who had stopped here for dinner and she was still around. The tingle he felt whenever she touched him, that was becoming very familiar now, appeared again as her hand brushed his reaching out to take the Sardines.

Stef stared at them for a moment before her eyebrows furrowed together. "You think...?"

"Dunno," Daryl replied, looking for further evidence of someone staying here. He could have sworn he heard a small rustle coming from the cupboard next to him, and spun around to look at it. Lifting his crossbow slightly, he took a step back but reached out his hand for the handle. With a deep breath, and half a silent prayer Sophia would be inside, he pulled it open, only to be met with a pile of blankets. "But maybe she slept in here."

Stef came over to join him looking at the small confined space that had been turned into a sort of bed. Everytime they thought they were getting somewhere and came up with nothing it brought more and more disappointment. Stef let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, as she turned to head for the doorway. "I'm gonna look around a bit."

"Careful," Daryl said quietly, and he was awarded with a smile as she left.

* * *

"We should head back," Daryl suggested as they found nothing in the garden area.

Stef nodded her head before gesturing back to the house. "I'm just gonna get something I seen, be back in a second." Daryl raised an eyebrow as she disappeared back inside, wondering what she was going for. He stood still for a minute before something caught his eye. It was a Cherokee Rose. He'd heard the story behind the rose, and thought of someone that it would be perfect for. He walked forward, and bent down to pick one of the roses, examining it thoroughly as he heard the door shut again behind him.

When he turned to look back, Stef was standing clutching a teddy bear. He felt a small smirk forming across his face as she held onto it. "Aint' ya a lil' old for cuddly toys?"

Stef smiled back at him, shaking her head. "It's for Sophia," she said quietly, walking over. "But you're never too old for cuddly toys." She held the teddy up to his face, and he swatted it away half heartedly. "I had a ton of Scooby Doo ones. In fact, they're all in my apartment still."

"What's a Scooby Doo?" Daryl asked confused, and Stef chuckled quietly at his lack of knowledge. When she told him it was a cartoon, Daryl just gave a quick nod of his head. His father would never have let him watch anything like that, so he wouldn't have had the first idea about that stuff. Stef seemed to notice the lack of response and decided not to say anymore.

Instead, she pointed to the flower in his hand. "Daryl Dixon picking flowers? Never thought I'd see the day."

He looked down at his hand and back up. "Cherokee Rose. Ya know the story?" Stef shook her head, so as they started walking he fell into step beside her as he tried to remember it best he could. "Story is that when American soldiers were movin' Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grievin' and cryin' so much 'cause they were losin' their lil ones along the way from exposure an' disease an' starvation. A lot of 'em just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give 'em strength an' hope. The next day this rose started to grow where the mothers' tears fell." Daryl paused for a minute before putting the rose in his pocket as carefully as he could. "I thought it would be nice, for Carol, y'know?"

Stef smiled softly, before resting a hand on his bare arm, to which Daryl used all his strength to avoid flinching away from. He didn't have a problem touching people, but the other way around it was a different story. It reminded him of the beatings, the burns, the neglect. He had to try and tell himself that was in the past. "That's beautiful. I'm sure Carol will love it." They walked quietly, side by side for a bit. "About yesterday.." Stef began, and Daryl followed her gaze down to the gun on his waistband.

"Shouldn't have pushed it," Daryl said quietly. "But you'd be safer if you had it."

"I know," Stef agreed, but turned her head away. She seemed to hug the teddy closer to her chest at the thought.

"We could work on it.." Daryl suggested slowly, pushing his own boundaries with everything he did with this girl, "..together."

"I'd like that," she smiled.

* * *

Stef had waited outside the RV as Daryl had gone to collect something from his tent. She smiled when she realized it was an empty beer bottle, which he had turned into a vase to hold the rose. They entered the RV together and immediately did a double take at the change to the interior. It was a lot cleaner than it had been when either of the two of them had last been in it. Carol was sitting in the back, and only looked up at the two of them when Daryl placed down the beer bottle on a table.

Stef stood back slightly as he retold the story to Carol. The older woman's eyes began to water as she looked up the flower and then back to Daryl. "I ain't fool enough to believe this flower is for my brother, but I think it mighta bloomed for yer lil girl." Stef was suddenly reminded of Merle, who may or may not have still been out there somewhere. Daryl didn't talk about him at all, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Once he had finished, he turned to look at Stef who walked forward warily.

"I, uh, brought this back with me. Thought Sophia might like it when she gets back," Stef sat the bear down on the table, so it fell back slightly and rested against the beer bottle. Carol looked up at the younger woman and wiped at her eyes.

"Thank you," Carol's voice was there, but barely audible. Stef smiled, just glad that Carol had said something to her. "For all you've done." Stef gave her a nod of her head, before turning to walk down the RV steps. Carol had sounded genuine, and Stef let out a small sigh of relief.

She turned to face Daryl as he shut the door behind him. "I'm gonna head inside, Maggie's allowing me to stay there for the time being."

Daryl seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before he brought his thumbnail up to his mouth and began chewing on it, something he often did when he felt tense or nervous. "I still got a bottle, from the C.D.C. if yer interested in a drink?" He reached up to scratch the back of his neck, cursing how embarrassed he probably looked, and he was more than surprised when she agreed.

* * *

He unscrewed the cap of the whisky bottle, and discarded it onto the floor of his tent. After taking a long drink he handed over the bottle to Stef who surprisingly did the same. She gave him a small smile as she set the bottle down onto the floor. "Needed that."

Daryl chuckled quietly, as he stretched out in front of him. He was silently thankful the tent had only been up for a couple of hours, and unlike his one at the quarry there were no blood covered clothes or arrows scattered all over the place.

"What do you think of Shane?" Stef asked unexpectedly, as she stared at the ground.

"Uh.. not a hell of a lot," Daryl replied honestly. "Why d'ya ask?"

"I don't know... he's been a little off since he came back last night." Stef didn't fully trust him anyway, but now even less. He had hardly spoken about what happened at the high school, but she had noticed slight differences in the two versions she had heard him talk of this morning. Probably nothing.

"Sure Rick won' let him do nothin' stupid," Daryl decided, once again bringing the bottle up to his lips.

"Yeah. Wonder how Glenn's getting on?" She grinned slightly, changing the subject from Shane. When Daryl looked at her oddly, she revealed what she'd meant. "He has a crush on Maggie, and the two of them are in town at the minute."

"Can imagine Chinaman's scared her off by now," Daryl laughed slightly, as Stef reached out to playfully hit his arm.

The two of them sat and made small talk for the next half hour or so, both of them having things they wanted to talk about, or ask each other, but not being able to. The bottle was more than half empty now, and it helped them both relax.

"You going out again tomorrow?" Stef asked, Daryl knowing she was referring to looking for Sophia.

"Yeah, gonna take a horse, follow the creek," He hadn't yet informed Hershel that he needed a horse, but surely he wouldn't mind Daryl taking one. He'd bring it straight back, not like he was gonna lose it or anything.

Stef nodded her head in understanding as she began to get up. "I should let you get some rest then. See you later," She hesitated for a second before leaning down and kissing him gently on the cheek, and then she turned and exited Daryl's tent, heading back towards the house where she was staying with the other girl.

"Yeah," Daryl said to himself, leaning back to watch her go. Maybe even one day he'd ask her to stay.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry it's taken so long for this chapter! I'm off on a mini holiday tomorrow, and won't be back home until Tuesday. Hopefully I can post a few chapters while I'm away, but if not, I promise to make up for it when I get back. Some Glenn/Maggie in this chapter, because they are just adorable, and also Stef is going to help Lori. I didn't really mind the character of Lori, I know some people weren't too fond of her, so I wanted Stef and her to actually get on. **

**Also, not long until Daryl's incident at the creek, that's when I hope to push Daryl/Stef along quite a bit ;) Hope you enjoy, and thanks again for your reviews, follows and favorites! 3**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

Carol stared at the flower that was sitting on the RV table, feeling as if every second it was there, it was reminding her that her daughter wasn't. It had been sweet of Daryl to bring it back, which was probably something no one could have predicted he would do. But it made the hole in her heart for her daughter grow even bigger. Shane and Andrea had taken her back to the highway earlier on, only to be met with a pile of food that was still untouched, and no sign of her daughter. She could almost see the pity radiating off Andrea and had to keep herself from having an outburst at the younger woman. She only meant well, after all. She had swallowed a lump in her throat looking at the food sitting on the hood of the car, with everyone in the camp no doubt thinking how much better it would have been if she would just give up and bring the food back. But it was her baby out there somewhere, and she would give up all her own food to the others before Sophia would starve. When they came back, she tried to take her mind off everything, by completely cleaning out the RV, meaning it would look nice if, no, _when _Sophia was found. And now Daryl and Stef, the only two people who had gone out looking for her daughter today had taken time out to bring back gifts for her, she felt awful. After they had left, her watery eyes followed the pair through the RV window over to Daryl's tent, and she found herself wishing that she had someone that could truly comfort her. The only person capable of doing that however, was less and less likely to be coming back, every minute that went by. She was surrounded by people, her new found family, but she felt so alone.

* * *

Things were awkward already. Maggie had only just caught up with Glenn and already the boy's face had taken on a red hue. Honestly, she would have been fine going into town on her own. She had done it plenty of times before without coming across any trouble. But Rick had near enough insisted that Glenn accompany her. So she had gotten two horses ready, and then sought out the boy. He was hanging around the tents that his people had set up, fumbling with a piece of paper in his hand, staring hard at it. Maggie assumed it was one of the lists of items he had to collect.

"You ready to go?" she asked, slowing the two horses to a stop in front if him. He turned and studied the animals, a frown on his face. Surely he wasn't afraid of riding a horse?! He had just been ready to climb onto the one beside her when T-Dog and an older man, whose name she was still unsure of, appeared beside them. She wasn't familiar with most of the group yet, only the ones who had came yesterday, although she remembered most of their faces from collecting Lori in the forest.

"Hey guys?" T-Dog began, nodding his head in the direction of where the farm's wells were situated. "We got a little bit of a problem." Those words didn't go down well in any normal situation, even less so nowadays. Maggie and Glenn turned and followed the two men in the direction of the wells. Maggie could tell that Glenn was having trouble with his riding skills already. He didn't look entirely comfortable on the horse he was riding, with his hands in a death grip on the rope he was holding onto, and obviously panicking that the horse would throw him off at any minute now.

"Relax," Maggie suggested quietly beside him, making the boys face redden even more than she thought possible. She raised an eyebrow as he straightened himself up, and tried to look as confident as he could. She wanted to laugh, but figured it best not to, only putting him off more. She had taken Nervous Nelly, the horse they had named for her jumpiness, and therefore, slightly more dangerous to ride. She was more used to handling her, and would be best to deal with any situation they might come across. On their way over towards the well, T-Dog and the older man had also collected Lori, Shane and a blonde woman who had just appeared this morning.

They came to a halt beside the well which they used for their drinking water, and Maggie and Glenn dismounted the horses. "We got us a guest," T-Dog looked at Maggie and pointed down the well. Maggie took a step closer, and when the sight T-Dog was talking about was visible, she had to turn away immediately before she emptied her stomach into the well also. It was definitely, without a doubt, the most horrific thing she had ever seen. She knew what walkers looked like, passing a few of them in her trips to town and into the forest, and even when Otis had collected them. Not that any of the people here needed to know that. But she had never seen one quite as bad as what was down the well. The water hadn't done anything for him at all, and he was bloated with most of his skin hanging off. To think they could have been drinking water that he had been bathing in made her stomach churn again.

Everyone else inspected the problem, before they all looked for a solution. T-Dog suggested blowing the things head off, but if the water wasn't already contaminated, the blonde woman pointed out that it would be after that. The only reasonable suggestion came from Shane... they were going to have to get it out of there.

They spent a good half hour trying whatever they could think off to fish out the walker. Shane had tried hooking a rope around it's neck, from where he was standing leaning into the well. Lori had suggested using a net, but they didn't have anything that would suit. They had tried using bait, but so far the walker wasn't going for it. There was only one kind of bait that was guaranteed to do the trick, apparently, and he was standing right beside her.

* * *

"You people are crazy," Maggie observed, standing back as the men finished tying the ropes around Glenn. If everything went well, then hopefully Glenn would get down safely, manage to get the rope around the neck of the monster down the well, and get back up in one piece. Then they could try and pull out the walker.

Glenn chuckled nervously, as Shane helped position him over the entrance. "Did I tell you how nice your hair looks?" Glenn asked, hoping maybe they would come up with a better option than live bait. He wanted to impress Maggie, but truthfully, he was scared as hell. "You have a nice shaped head."

Shane laughed slightly and shook his head, checking the security of the rope. "We'll get you out in one piece," he assured, starting to lower Glenn in.

"Alive," Glenn stated firmly. "Alive is the important part." He used his feet to steady himself as he got closer and closer towards the walker, who was now reaching around to try and grab him. He noticed Maggie looking down at him and tried his best to give her a smile. His confidence was out the window now, and the only thing he was concerned about was surviving.

"You OK?"

"Livin' the dream," he muttered, as he made his first attempt to hook the rope round the walkers neck. He wasn't aware what was happening up top, but a flood of panic passed through his body as he felt a jerk on the rope, and became closer to the walker than he wanted to be. When he realized he was going down, instead of up, that's when he really started to freak out. He heard yelling from above him, and realized he too was yelling for help, and for the group to get them the hell out of here. As embarrassing as it was, tears began to fill his eyes as he got closer and closer to what was sure to be his death.

"Hang on!" Shane's voice came from above him, and he felt a yank on the rope. After what seemed like years, although it was only seconds, Glenn was being hoisted up to safety again. He scrambled against the side of the walls, desperately trying to quicken the process. When he touched solid ground again, he let out the biggest sigh of relief he ever had. Andrea helped him up and pulled him into a quick hug, checking he wasn't injured, as he revealed he had managed to hook the walker, much to everyone else's delight.

The group had started pulling again, this time not panicking so much, as it was the walker they were trying to get out, and not Glenn. The horses had also joined in, and provided some much needed strength that the group was starting to run low on. T-Dog guided them as he watched, not joining in thanks to his arm injury. Which was unfortunate, as he could probably have pulled better than anyone else.

The head of the walker appeared first, having bloated to the size of twice the normal. Everyone looked away as they continued pulling, only checking back when they felt resistance. T-Dog began shaking his head as he got closer to check the problem. "He's stuck." The walker's stomach had made sure that it wasn't coming any further. Everyone grimaced at the sight, but continue to tug on the rope. Not the best idea.

The walker literally broke in half right in front of their eyes, it's insides spilling out all over the ground. The smell was almost unbearable, and Maggie took off from where she was standing to try and get a breath of as fresh of air as possible. She'd let the group deal with their mess, and wait until Glenn was ready, so they could get out of here.

* * *

Once everything had been settled, they were finally on the road to the pharmacy. It was even more awkward now than it had been, with both of them not wanting to talk about what had just happened.

Glenn watched her for a minute, before trying to earn back some of the impressiveness he had probably lost down that well. "I usually do this solo, y'know?" Maggie raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything and kept focused on the road ahead. "I can get in and out pretty quick, faster by myself."

"Are you saying you'd rather I wasn't here?" Maggie asked, half serious, half joking.

"Uh..no.. that's not what I meant." Glenn went back to his shy stuttering again, and Maggie just laughed.

"Forget it. So tell me about your group, we didn't really have time for proper introductions," Maggie requested, as the town just started to come into sight in front of them. "I know Rick, Lori and Carl are together. Did Shane and Stef have any family with them?"

Glenn smiled at the mention of his friend. "Stef was alone, same as me. Pretty sure she's found herself someone, though." When Maggie gave him a questioning look, he wondered to himself how she was getting on in the woods with Daryl. He had to admit that's something he wouldn't be the least bit excited about. "Daryl and Stef, I seen them earlier, gettin' pretty close." Glenn grinned, but noticed Maggie's look had now moved to confused. "Uh.. the one with the crossbow."

"Oh," Maggie gave a slight nod of her head, then frowned, not seeing the appeal in the angry, obnoxious man that was apparently named Daryl. "How about Shane?"

Glenn panicked for a moment, thinking maybe Maggie had a crush on Shane. He had to do something about that. "Uh.. he was alone, with Lori and Carl. He was Rick's best friend, they used to work together. Him and Andrea have been getting pretty friendly though," realizing that Maggie probably didn't know Andrea either, he finished, "..the blonde girl." They were probably nothing more than friends, but Glenn didn't want to admit to Maggie that Shane was single.

They eventually reached the pharmacy after more awkward conversation between the two, and entered the store carefully, checking for any signs of danger. Everything looked to be clear, and Glenn reached into his pockets to pull out the lists he had collected from various people around camp. He handed one to Maggie when she offered to help, and said he was just going to look around.

He had to look for whatever Lori wanted. She had said it would be in the feminine hygiene section, and that immediately made Glenn cringe. He wandered over, and tried to look as casual as he could, picking up items and checking the labels to see if it was what he was looking for. True Blue. What on earth was a True Blue? Maggie would probably know, but Lori had asked for his discretion on the matter. He went through condoms, tampons, shampoos, everything he could see, before his eyes settled on the packaging of a True Blue. He picked it up, carefully reading what it said on the box.

Pregnancy Test.

Holy shit. He jumped when Maggie appeared from behind him, holding onto the bag full of items she had collected. "What'cha got there?" she asked, and Glenn shoved the test into his own bag, before scrambling around to pick up some sort of packaging he could pretend he had been looking at. "Just general stuff.." He couldn't have picked up anything worse.

"Condoms?" Both of Maggie's eyebrows shot up once again, nearly going off her forehead this time. Glenn started to choke over his own words in front of her. "Sure you don't got a girlfriend that I don't know about?" Glenn shook his head immediately and stared at the girl, his face quite amusing. "Then you must be a pretty confident guy."

"Oh no, no, I would uh.. I would never have sex with... I'm lost," Glenn finally admitted, having reached the point of utter humiliation. Maggie however, seemed to enjoy watching him squirm, and pushed it even further.

"Is there something wrong with me?"

"No! That's not what I meant! I.." Glenn eventually gave up with the words, figuring maybe if he just became silent this would all pass, and could be forgotten about. Probably not. He'd never understood the whole wishing the ground would open and swallow you up appeal until now. Maggie seemed to be deep in thought for a minute before a small smile crossed her face.

"I'll have sex with you." When those words came out of Maggie's mouth, Glenn was pretty sure that he had actually died down that well, and he was in heaven now. He was almost about to laugh, thinking it was all a joke to her, before she walked closer to him and pulled off his baseball cap. He swallowed hard as she came closer to press her lips to his own... Glenn fucking loved his life.

* * *

Stef knocked lightly on the door to the room Carl was residing in, before opening the door and receiving a small grin from the boy. He was sitting up in bed wide awake, and looked much better than he had been, but still not completely back to himself.

"Hey little guy," Stef ruffled his hair before taking a seat beside his bed. "How you doing?"

Carl slowly turned so he could be facing her, concerning his mother at the opposite side of the bed who was worried about him moving around too much. "I feel a lot better," he smiled weakly, looking over to his father stood in the corner. "And dad says Sophia's alright, so even better."

Stef raised her eyebrow a fraction, following Carl's gaze over to Rick. The man gave her a tight smile and seemed to be pleading with his eyes for her not to say anything. She sure as hell hadn't seen Sophia around anywhere since she had left Daryl's tent.

"That's good to hear," Stef dropped her eyes back down to him, glad that something was going their way. "I just thought I'd drop by. I'll should probably let you rest for a bit. No doubt in time you'll be up and about the farm."

Carl tried his best to nod his head, as Stef got up to leave the room. She could hear Rick's footsteps following behind her on the wooden floor, and turned to face him when they were out of hearing range of Carl.

"Sophia's back? Really?" Stef knew it wasn't true, and wanted to figure out Rick's reasoning for building up the boys hopes.

"I... I shouldn't have, I know," Rick let out a long sigh, rubbing his hand over his face, the stress of everything clearly catching up to him. "It was the first thing he asked this morning when he woke up, how was Sophia, and I just.. "

"It's OK, I know." Stef hadn't doubted that Rick's intentions would have been good, but it was going to be hard for Carl to hear that they still hadn't found the girl, who had become a very close friend to him. "But maybe he should know the truth, sooner rather than later."

Rick nodded his head. "Did you have any luck out there today?"

"We found a farmhouse not far from here, there were some Sardines open and what looked to be a little bed made up. No Sophia though. I thought maybe I could check it out tomorrow, see if she came back at any point through the night?" If Sophia was using the house as a living quarters, it would have been likely she would have been there when they went the first time, but for some unlikely reason, she may have ventured out for a bit.

"Sounds like a plan," Rick agreed, his voice having picked up slightly knowing that they might have had a lead on where the girl had been. "You going with Daryl?"

"No, he's gonna head up the creek, see if he can see anything up there."

"You were going to go yourself?" Rick asked, frowning. It wasn't the safest of ideas. Daryl would probably be more than capable himself, not a lot could go wrong with him, since he was used to going out alone, and was skilled with his weaponry. But Stef, for some reason, refused to even carry a gun, and might not survive a large attack of walkers.

"Uh.. yeah, I guess." Stef hadn't really had the time to think about it yet, the idea was there and she would have worried about details when the time came.

"I won't have that," Rick gave her a warm smile, before getting lost in thought. "Shane and I were going to head out in the morning, but maybe in the afternoon we can come with you, check it out?"

"Sounds good to me," Stef returned his smile, and Rick turned back towards his sons room with a nod of goodbye.

Stef heard footsteps behind her again, and thought Rick had come up with another idea, so she was surprised to see Lori standing, with a worried expression on her face. "Hey, Stef? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Lori lowered her voice as she followed the younger girl into the kitchen. Stef gave a nod of her head, and Lori sat down at the table and buried her face in her hands.

"Are you OK?" Stef asked, concerned about the other woman. Lori had been through so much with Rick and Carl, and everything that had happened, but Stef had never seen her break down before. She was always so strong in front of everyone, and that was something she admired about her. "What's up?"

"I..I did something really stupid." Lori needed to tell someone. She felt like if she kept this in any longer she might burst. Carol had enough on her mind without worrying about Lori too, and Andrea and her had never really gotten along, so that was a no. She didn't know the women at the farm, and Stef was the only other option, although she did actually like her anyway, so it wasn't too bad.

"OK, you're kinda worrying me now," Stef gave her a weak smile, and reached out to place a hand on her arm. The older woman didn't flinch away from the contact for once, instead, she looked up to be staring directly into Stef's eyes.

Her voice dropped to a whisper, and it was hard to make out what she was saying, but Stef got what she needed to hear. "I think I might be pregnant."

Stef immediately dropped her hand from Lori's arm, and sat back in her chair, her face showing the shock she was feeling. Lori was pregnant?! That was trouble from the very start. How would they look after a baby? They could barely even look after themselves. Stef had to remind herself for a minute that it wasn't her who might have been pregnant, and she turned her attention back to Lori.

"I..I uh, you think?" Lori hadn't confirmed it, but she'd had Carl before, so surely she knew some of the signs.

"I sent Glenn into town for a pregnancy test." Lori's eyes kept darting towards the door, making sure no one was about to come in, or was lurking nearby. "I don't think I can do this by myself. Will you..?"

After a minute of silence where Lori seemed to sadden even further, Stef eventually let out a breath. "Yeah. Of course, sorry. Wouldn't it be better if it was Rick though?" When Lori avoided her gaze, Stef realized something was wrong. "Does Rick know?" The only answer she got was a shake of Lori's head. And it was then that it clicked for Stef. All those times Lori had skipped laundry duty back at the quarry. The times she had been sneaking off into the bushes with Shane. "Oh."

"You can't say anything to him, please." Lori was obviously having trouble with this, and Stef couldn't help think what she was going to do if the test came back positive. "You and Glenn are the only ones who know, well, I assume Glenn has figured it out by now. I just didn't think he'd be very comfortable coming with me to do the damn thing."

Stef chuckled slightly, not being able to imagine Glenn accompanying Lori on her test. He had probably freaked out even picking the packaging up. She wasn't even sure she wanted to herself, but had she been in Lori's position she would have been begging someone to help her. "So when are you gonna do it?"

Lori looked out the window again, having done so several or more times already, checking for any signs of Glenn and Maggie. "Tonight. When it's dark." She hadn't planned yet how she was going to get away from Rick and Carl for a bit, but she had a couple of hours to come up with something still.

"Alright," Stef gave a quick nod of her head, committing herself to going with Lori. "Come find me when you need me."


	17. Chapter 17

**It's here! So sorry to everyone this took so long to get up, when I came back from holiday, there was snow everywhere and my internet was down... :( But now it's back and I'm pretty much snowed in, I have plenty of time to write :D I'm going to update the picture for the story.. if anyone wondered what Stef would look like, I have Cheryl Cole in mind when I imagine her. Enjoy the chapter.. Daryl's going to have a rough time next chapter! :)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef. **_

* * *

Stef watched as Lori's shaky hands desperately tried to get into the packaging she was holding onto. The packaging containing the item that would determine whether or not she was more screwed than she already was. "Can you get it?" Stef asked, trying to offer as much support as she could, but feeling rather uncomfortable in the situation. As soon as it had became dark outside, Lori had fetched Stef and together they had walked a short distance from the camp, both of them arming themselves with a knife in case of danger, far enough just so they were out of view of everyone, and stopped by a fallen tree to do the test. Hershel's bathroom would have been so much easier, but Lori wasn't confident that they wouldn't get caught.

"I'm fine," Lori replied sharply, finally getting the box fully open. She pulled out the pregnancy test and stared hard at it for a minute, before turning to look at Stef who was awkwardly fidgeting around against a tree. Lori raised an eyebrow, a signal for Stef to turn around. They had been used to little privacy, but this was different.

"Right," Stef muttered quietly, turning around and turning her attention over to the camp. She looked around at the small glow coming from the tents and smiled softly to herself when her eyes rested on Daryl's tent. Despite Otis' funeral, as far as days went in these times, she'd had a pretty good one. It made a pleasant change from the usual.

"Done." Lori's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to see the other woman staring at the small white stick in her hand, her eyes never leaving the thing. One minute. That's how long it was meant to take. This was going to be a hell of a long minute. One little plus sign and Lori was fucked. None of the two of them said a word as the seconds passed. Stef was trying to count quietly to herself in her head, and when she reached sixty, Lori appeared to have been doing the same as she squinted her eyes, looking for something to come up.

Lori sniffled quietly as she looked away from the test and back to the farm. Stef didn't know if it was a good result or a bad one. Did she want the baby, and the test came back negative? Or did she not want it, and the test came back positive? Would these be happy tears, or sad ones? Stef swallowed as she walked closer towards Lori. The other woman lifted her head, and gave a small nod. Stef knew what that meant. It meant the group number was going up by one.

"What am I going to do?" Lori sighed, asking herself the question more than anyone else. She had been trying with Rick for another baby for so long before the dead started walking, and had no success. And now, at the shittiest time possible, it had finally happened. The baby she was supposed to have had was to try and save her and Rick's marriage, but this one... it would probably end it.

"It's up to you," Stef said quietly from behind her. "Your baby."

Her baby. Her and Rick's baby. Right? No, it had to be. This was a good thing. Would it be a boy or a girl? What would they name it? Would it have it's daddy's eyes? No. This was an awful thing. What would they feed it? How would they dress it? Who would look after it? Lori had watched what Carol had been going through when something happened to Sophia, and she didn't know if she could cope if something was to happen to her baby. Lori shook her head sadly as she looked Stef in the eye. "I don't think I can do this."

Stef gave a quick nod of understanding, and tried to produce her best smile, coming to nothing more than a twitch of her lips. She wasn't doing a very good job of making Lori feel better at all. "It's your choice Lori, but maybe you should talk to Rick?" Stef suggested, trying to avoid the fall out that would probably happen between the two if Rick happened to find out anytime in the future.

"I guess," Lori agreed, although not having any intention of telling Rick at all. She just needed Glenn to go to the pharmacy again, and pick up what she needed._ What she needed to kill her baby. _Her stomach churned at the thought. It sounded so harsh. The baby she had been trying for for so long. The one that was supposed to grow up in a normal world, go to school, get a job... gone in a matter of minutes. She wasn't even sure how she was going to do it. Morning After Pills usually only worked for up to 72 hours after sex, and that wouldn't do a lot of good now. Unless she took a lot of them, maybe that would work. "Could you do me one last thing?"

Stef hesitated for a moment before nodding again. "Sure.. what do you need?"

"Glenn's your friend, right? If I give you a note, could you see if he would go to the pharmacy again?" Lori felt bad constantly asking the boy to do things for her, sensing he would be getting annoyed with her by now. He probably wouldn't be so irritated if Stef asked him to go this time.

Stef thought for a minute, before giving Lori a small smile. "Yeah, of course." She chewed on a fingernail for a moment, nervously, before following Lori who had started on her way back to the house. "You have options, you know? We could find food in town, I'm sure. And maybe Hershel's family have some baby clothes from when the girls were younger?" Stef knew it was a long shot, but she didn't want Lori to make a decision without thinking it through properly. It was a life she was deciding the fate of. But when Lori looked at her, and shook her head again, Stef knew her mind was already made up. "I'll talk to Glenn then."

"Thanks." Lori just wanted this to end. And things to go back to as normal as they had been. Stef waited outside as Lori rushed into Hershel's house to scribble something down on a piece of paper. When she came back, she handed the folded up paper back to Stef. "Thank you, for coming with me. Can this stay between us?"

"No worries, sure." Stef turned away, and made her way towards where Glenn had set up a tent for himself in front of the farmhouse. She pulled the opening back, and climbed in, giving him a smile as she did so. "Hey, how'd your trip go?"

Glenn smiled so wide Stef thought his face might crack, as she sat down on the floor beside him. "Fantastically," he laughed, and Stef shook her head, not wanting to know anymore. Going by his enthusiasm, his day with Maggie had gone very well indeed. So hopefully he wouldn't mind too much about going into town again for Lori. She would have went herself, had it not been for the fact she was going back to check out the farmhouse she and Daryl had found with Rick and Shane.

"I need a favor," Stef slowly held out the piece of paper in her hands, which Glenn took a look at before turning back to her, confused. "If you're heading back to the pharmacy anytime soon."

"What is it?" Glenn asked, not having a clue what was on the paper. "So I know where to find it." If Glenn had known quicker what Lori had been looking for the first time, he wouldn't have had to sort through everything in the feminine hygiene section and would have saved the embarrassment of the incident that occurred. Then again, what happened with Maggie might not have, had he not had to save himself with the condoms.

Stef bit her lip and looked down at the floor of the tent. "Morning After Pills."

Glenn's eyebrows shot up immediately, and his mouth formed a small 'o' shape. He remained silent for a minute, before laughing quietly. "Did you.. and Daryl...?" Stef's head snapped up, and she felt her cheeks turn red immediately.

"Uh, no," she choked out, remembering the last time today she had seen Glenn, and what he was obviously thinking. "No. Not for me." She hesitated for a minute, wondering if she should say anymore to Glenn. He had already seen the pregnancy test, so surely he had worked out something. She trusted he would keep a secret anyway. "For Lori."

Glenn nodded slightly, realizing what he had brought back earlier had obviously came back positive. His attention had been so focused on Maggie at the minute, and he had kind of forgotten about the test for Lori. At least he and Maggie had been smart enough to use condoms. "I can try and head back in tomorrow, might be the day after. Maybe Maggie will come with me again." Glenn was hoping she most definitely would, and even although she said what had happened had been a one time thing, she might have changed her mind. If his praying worked, she _would _change her mind.

"Thank you," Stef leaned over to give Glenn a quick hug. "And could we, y'know, keep this between us at the minute. I don't think she wants anyone to know."

Glenn had never been great with confidential information, but he would do his best. "Of course."

* * *

When Daryl awoke the next morning, the only thing that could be heard was bird song. No Carol sobbing in the background, no guns going off, or people screaming. Just peaceful, serene bird song. It was nice to have his own space again, having his own tent set up a small space away from camp. He rolled out of his sleeping bag, and started to poke around in his bag of belongings, looking for something to wear for the day. He'd be out quite a while, likely, so he put on a few different layers. He didn't see any need to get washed up this morning, as he would normally come back dirty, so he could wait until later to do that.

He'd need to discuss the plans with the group, then find himself a horse to take out with him. He had discovered the stable location, so hopefully he could get in and out without too much of a problem, still not having told Hershel he was going to be taking one of his horses out. Daryl bent down to pick up his knife and crossbow he had left on the floor, and exited his tent, inhaling the fresh morning air. Hershel's farm was one of the few places he had came across that didn't yet smell like death.

There wasn't a lot of activity in the campsite. He seen the older blonde woman from the farm, walking over towards a barn in the distance. Carol was up, and hanging out washing on the line already. No doubt trying to keep her mind off Sophia. Daryl was going to find her today. He had a feeling. T-Dog and Stef were sitting around a small fire they had made, and Daryl slowly walked over towards them.

"Morning," Stef greeted him cheerily, but Daryl noticed when she looked up at him how tired she looked. She had barely slept the night before. Apart from Rick, Lori and Carl, she was the only person still staying in the farmhouse, thanks to Maggie, but she had hardly slept at all last night, her thoughts on Lori and her baby going through her head the whole time. "Breakfast?"

""Uh, sure, thanks." Daryl nodded and took a seat on one of the chairs that had been set up. T-Dog barely acknowledged he was there, but gave him a small nod. T-Dog hadn't yet properly thanked Daryl for saving his life back on the highway, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. Flowers and chocolates weren't appropriate here. Stef handed Daryl a plate with a couple of eggs on it, and Daryl quietly began eating. He'd need to go and do some hunting soon. He missed meat, whether it be from a deer, squirrel or whatever. Eggs stopped the hunger, sure, but would begin to get a bit boring if they were having them all the time. He mentally scolded himself for complaining about the food, noticing how much he sounded like Carl.

"You still heading up the creek today?" Stef asked, slightly hoping he might have changed his mind, and he could come back to the farmhouse with her. She didn't mind going with Rick, but Shane was becoming more unlike his old self everyday, and not in a good way. Things could get awkward.

"Yeah, gonna wait til' Rick's awake, run over the plan. Then I'll head out."

It didn't take long for Rick and the others to start coming out from their sleeping places, and getting themselves ready for the day. Everyone gathered around Daryl's truck as Rick laid down one of the maps Maggie had provided. "Alright, we got a lot of ground to cover, if she stayed in the farmhouse Daryl and Stef found, she might have gone east."

"We don't know it was even her," Shane began, once again not agreeing with what Rick was proposing. Everyone seemed to notice this was becoming a regular occurrence now. "It could have been anyone sleeping in that farmhouse."

"Whoever it was, was only about knee high," Stef pointed out, remembering the cramped space they had found with the blankets. "Otherwise they wouldn't have fit in the bed they had made."

Rick nodded his head, and continued, ignoring what Shane had said completely. "We'll split up, cover different areas. Then later we're going back to that farmhouse." Shane scowled from where he was sitting, but said nothing.

The boy that was on the farm when they had arrived came forward and approached Rick. They had learned he was Jimmy, the younger Greene girl's boyfriend, and had came to stay with Hershel and his family when the outbreak began. "I wanna help," he stated firmly. "I know the area, thought I might be of some use. Hershel said to ask you."

Rick seemed to think for a minute before giving the young boy a small smile. "Alright, thanks." The more eyes looking for Sophia, surely the better chance they had of finding her.

"I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to that ridge," Daryl pointed out on the map where he was going to. "Get a good view up there, if she's around, should be able to spot her."

"That's a good idea," T-Dog began, earning a confused glance from each member of the camp, all of them knowing that he and Daryl didn't get on too well. "Maybe when you're up there you'll see your Chupacabra." Stef suddenly remembered the first night in camp when Daryl had told the story. It was the first time any of them had been introduced to him. When Rick looked at him confused, they remembered he hadn't been with them then, still out there somewhere in a hospital with no idea what was going on around him.

Dale began to explain. "The first night in camp, Daryl told us how everything reminded him of when he had went squirrel hunting, and was convinced he seen a chupacabra."

"S'true." Daryl nodded from beside him, but frowned when Jimmy started to laugh quietly. "What you brayin' at, Jackass?"

Jimmy smirked at him, obviously not being aware of how easy it was to piss Daryl off. "So you believe in a blood sucking dog?"

"You believe in dead people walkin' around?" Daryl retorted, promptly shutting Jimmy up. Stef and Dale chuckled quietly at the change in the younger boy's expression from where they were standing.

When everyone got ready to leave for their search areas, Jimmy moved forward and tried to lift the shotgun off the top of Daryl's truck. Rick immediately reached out to pull it out of his hand. Jimmy looked around everyone, not loosening his grip on the gun. "I want one if I'm going out." Rick and Shane didn't trust half their own group with a gun yet, so Stef didn't see Jimmy getting his own way here.

"An' people in hell want Slurpees," Daryl stated before turning and walking off. He nudged Stef on the arm slightly, a signal for her to follow him that hopefully she would pick up on. When he was a bit away from the crowd of people, the trees providing privacy, he turned around and thankfully Stef was behind him.

"Take this," Daryl said, holding out the knife that he used. "Better than your one."

Stef took hold of the knife, fitting it into her belt. At least he wasn't trying to give her a gun again. "What are you going to use? You need this one?" Stef held up the other knife that she had, the one that had nearly gotten her killed when she got it lodged in the head of a walker. "Swap?"

"Got my crossbow, but I'll take it anyway," Daryl took the knife out of her hand, his fingers lingering over hers a moment longer than necessary. Stef moved closer so she could reach up to place a quick kiss on his lips.

"Be careful out there. Want you to come back in one piece," she smiled as she stood back. Daryl nodded quickly, and turned away, starting to walk off towards the stable. He had to get out of view, only for the reason that he felt like a smile was about to form on his face, and he didn't want to let his guard down or his tough exterior slip away near the others. He was beginning to find that harder and harder though, especially when she had told him she wanted him back in one piece. The point being she wanted him to come back. For what was probably the first time in his life, Daryl felt wanted.

* * *

"How long have you two been together?" Maggie's voice seemed to come out of nowhere, and Stef turned to see her sitting against a tree, a short distance from where her and Daryl had been stood. The other girl gave her a smile and signaled for her to join her.

"I uh.. we're not really... I don't know." Stef wasn't entirely sure how you would describe it. They weren't together, but they weren't not? She wasn't even making sense in her own head, so said no more and sat down beside Maggie. Maggie just laughed and nodded her head slightly. "What are you doing out here?" Stef asked, hoping to change the subject.

"I just wanted to get away for a bit," Maggie replied, and Stef noticed there was a book sitting in her lap, her finger marking where she had last read. "Some of your people are in the kitchen, the older woman suggested making dinner for us all tonight. Dad doesn't know yet, but I figured it would be alright."

"She won't do any harm, I think she's just trying to keep her mind off things," Stef assumed that Maggie had been talking about Carol. Lori was still taking care of Carl and Andrea wasn't really the type of person to cook the group a dinner. She preferred the tasks that were more expected of the men to carry out and had gone out looking for Sophia with T-Dog.

"I know that. It's just dad doesn't want too many people in his house, since we really don't know y'all too well yet." Hershel had been worried enough when the four of them first turned up on his porch the day Carl was shot, nevermind when the whole group had gathered together. Stef could understand his thinking. She wouldn't have liked strangers invading her own property.

"But we are really thankful to you all. For what you done for Carl, T-Dog, everyone. And for letting us stay in your house." Stef was starting to get comfortable in the pile of blankets she had been using as a bed in Maggie's room, but figured it would be best if she found herself a tent again, so it wouldn't be so hard when they had to leave this place eventually. "Plus Daryl's happy to have a horse today, might help him cover more ground quicker."

"Horse?" Maggie wondered, not having heard of anyone taking the horses out today. "Dad didn't say anything about the horses going out, I would have gotten one ready for him."

"Oh, I thought you knew." Stef silently prayed that they wouldn't mind Daryl borrowing their animals. "Sorry."

"It's alright, I'll talk to dad later," Maggie assured, giving Stef a friendly smile. "Have you um.. seen Glenn around this morning?"

"Yeah, I seen him come out of his tent earlier, but I haven't spoken to him." Normally Glenn was straight to the camp fire, conversating with most of the camp. But he had been unusually quiet today, and she hadn't seen him since breakfast. "Why?"

Maggie's face seemed to redden slightly as she turned her eyes away from Stef. "I might have said something to him... and he's been quiet since then." When she turned back, Stef was looking at her confused, not knowing half the story. Maggie sighed quietly, hoping that Stef was good with secrets. It was nice to have a female around her age to talk to about things like this, but Maggie knew Stef and Glenn were close, so she might not have been the easiest to talk to about her situation. "Yesterday.. at the pharmacy, Glenn and I got a little... _intimate_?" Maggie cringed at her own words. "I told him it was a one time thing, and he seemed pretty offended by it."

Stef felt slightly defensive of the boy she thought of as her brother. She knew he was head over heels for Maggie, and couldn't imagine how her blowing him off would have felt to him. "You need to talk to him. Explain things. I think he's going back to the pharmacy tomorrow. Maybe you could go with him?"

"Seems like a good idea," Maggie agreed. It was best to have privacy to talk anyway. Especially away from her father. Maybe she could even find him, and they could sort things out before dinner tonight, otherwise it was going to go worse than she was already imagining. Maggie began to get up, folding the page of the book she had been reading over. "Thanks. See you at dinner tonight?"

"Yeah," Stef smiled, also getting up from her spot. She started to make her way towards the farmhouse, passing Dale sitting atop the RV, and towards the kitchen where she could see if she could be of any use to Carol in helping prepare the meal. She wasn't going to be heading out with Rick and Shane until some time this afternoon, so she might as well have been doing something useful to pass her time.

* * *

Daryl looked between the two horses in the stable, picking out the one he thought looked best to ride. He wasn't an expert when it came to the animal, and only knew the basic commands to get it to move and to stop. That was hopefully all he would need anyway. As he chose the one on the left, he noticed a small hand painted sign hanging over the stable it was in. Nelly. _Stupid fucking name_. He threw the saddle over the back of Nelly, trying to be as gentle as he could, before hoisting himself up onto the horse's back. He adjusted his crossbow so it sat as comfortably as possible on his back, and checked Stef's knife was in place. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he felt it settled into his belt, and Nelly began to move. Pulling out the folded up map out of his pocket, he began to try and navigate the right path. Today was the day he would find the girl. He was sure of it.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

Daryl looked all around him as Nelly slowly made her way through the forest. They were a fair distance from the farmhouse now, and soon he would be at the top of the ridge, where he could get a birds-eye view of the area and hopefully somewhere he could spot Sophia. The horse wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing in the world and he found himself fidgeting around, changing positions every five minutes. There was a slight rustle in the leaves on the forest floor in front of him and the horse backed up slightly as it grunted. Jumpy fucker. "Easy girl," Daryl soothed, eventually getting her to move forward again. Should have been a jockey. Something colorful caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and he stopped Nelly so he could check it out.

He dismounted the horse and walked over to the object, squinting when he got closer. It was a doll. Sophia had a doll with her when she had gotten lost. And unless the walkers had started to carry dolls too, it was more than likely Sophia's. It wasn't the little girl, but it was a good start. At least now he was on her trail. He bent down and picked up the doll, shaking off some of the dirt that had settled on top of it. If he didn't arrive back at camp with Sophia today, maybe this would offer a bit of comfort to Carol. He clipped the doll to the back of his belt, and got back on Nelly, following the areas where it looked like footsteps had trampled over the ground.

He shot another arrow through a squirrel sitting on a tree, adding it to the small collection he had already made. At least they would get meat for dinner tonight. Daryl took a look to the side looking down into the water where they had first lost the girl. "Sophia!" If she was anywhere around, surely she would have heard him. There was a hissing noise that came out of nowhere and Nelly immediately started to panic. Most likely a snake or something had crossed their path. "Whoa, whoa," Daryl tried to calm the horse down, but the next thing he knew, the horse threw him into the air, and he landed hard on the ground. The problem was the ground was on a slope, and he found himself tumbling downwards towards the water.

His mind registered the noise of Nelly running away in the background as the distance between him and the water closed in. His hand lost the grip he had on his crossbow, separating him from his weapon, and suddenly he was submerged in the water at the bottom of the creek.

He lifted his head immediately, coughing as he spat out the mouthful of water he had gotten, and waiting for his ears to empty. A shooting pain ran through his whole body as he lay on his back. One of his arrows. It had gone right through his side, causing him a lot more pain than he cared to admit. "Son of a bitch." His breathing was heavy as he laid his head back, trying to gather the energy to get up. He groaned a few times before pulling himself up, clinging on to his side. Every move seemed to intensify the pain, and he had to stop himself giving in to the unconsciousness fighting to take over him. If only Merle was here... what would he think?

The water that had soaked into his clothes meant there was added weight for him to try and stand upright. He was crawling through the water more than anything, until eventually there was solid ground underneath him again. Sorting himself to a kneeling position, he pulled Stef's knife out of his belt and slashed at his shirt sleeves. Another sleeveless shirt to add to the collection. With the fabric he had cut off, he tied it around his waist, hoping to stop some of the bleeding from his side the arrow had caused. It then struck him that his crossbow wasn't with him, and he looked around for a large stick he could locate his favorite thing with. Slowly, so as not to cause himself too much more discomfort, he made his way back into the water.

He used the stick to poke around, hoping it would connect with something soon. Then he could get back to camp. And as much as he didn't want to give up, he was going to have to call off the search for the day. Hopefully the doctor would patch him up, and he could come back tomorrow, with reinforcements. But he had to get back up the ridge first, which looking at the height he had to climb, wasn't going to be easy. Finally, he felt the stick hit something in the water, and he felt around, his fingers finally meeting his crossbow. With a sigh of relief, he pulled it out, and made for the climb he was going to undertake. It was going to be a pain in the ass with the arrow lodged in his side, but he'd make it.

Daryl made pained noises as he began his climb up the rocks. Surprisingly, he was making good progress. Some bits were easier to get up than others. His hand reached out for a branch sticking out, hoping he could use that to hoist himself up a bit further. He grabbed onto it and pulled, but his heart missed a beat when the branch started to come loose. His other hand reached out to grip for something, but with holding onto the crossbow, he didn't get anything. With no hands keeping him up, he felt himself falling backwards again. Then he felt himself falling.

Further and further away from the top.

Further from the farmhouse.

Further from his group.

And then another pain.. this time in his head. And then he felt nothing, as the blackness overcame him.

* * *

Thankfully, the farmhouse had been easy enough to find again, and they hadn't wasted too much time getting there. Shane had thought the whole idea was stupid, but had gone along anyway, not wanting to spend any more time around Lori who had still barely spoken to him since the C.D.C. She thanked him when she had to for bringing back Carl's medical equipment he needed, but otherwise gave him the could shoulder. He had no one to blame but himself really, and he needed to get away for a bit. Things were slightly awkward between him and Rick too, thanks to their little fall out in the forest this morning. He had to be careful, knowing that his popularity in the camp was decreasing.

Stef led the two men into the kitchen, and showed them around. The sardines were still in the bin that Daryl had noticed, and had now been swarmed by a group of flies. Stef then proceeded to open the cupboard door they had looked in, and sure enough there were still a small pile of blankets inside. It was hard to tell if they had been moved since she last seen them as she hadn't been paying enough attention to how it had looked before.

"Alright, I'm gonna take a look around, check out the place," Rick informed, as he started to make his way out of the kitchen. It left Shane and Stef standing awkwardly beside the dining table. Shane huffed out a breath and took another look in the cupboard. It was bullshit. If Sophia had found a safe enough place like this, why wouldn't she just stay here? They hadn't seen any walkers around the house area, and only met one on the travel here. She knew people would come looking for her, so she should have been smart enough to pick a shelter and stay in it. If she'd left here, who knows where she'd ended up.

"What do you think now you've seen it?" Stef asked, gesturing towards the pile of blankets in the cupboard. She was right in the fact whoever had stayed here hadn't been very high, so they could fit in, but that didn't mean it was Sophia. Shane was so irritated he couldn't even bring himself to be nice.

"Could've been anyone," he spat, slamming the cupboard door shut harder than necessary, making Stef jump slightly. They should have been on their way to Fort Benning by now, not out in the woods looking for someone they'd probably never find again. Because, as hard as it was for everyone to admit, Shane knew it's what most people were thinking. Even in the forest this morning, when he had tried to get Rick to give up and move on, although he had disagreed, Shane had seen in his eyes that some small part of Rick thought he was right. "If we aint' found her yet, it's probably cause she's dead."

Shane intended to head out into the garden for a bit of fresh air, but pushed past Stef harder than he meant to, his larger frame making her lose her balance and fall to the floor. His eyes widened as she stared at him from her now sitting position on the floor. "Fuck.. shit.. I'm sorry.." He began to mutter, and ran the back of his hand along his mouth. What on earth was wrong with him? He didn't hurt women. Then again, before now he had never shot an innocent man and left him to die either. Shane immediately extended his hand, just as Rick came in quickly through the door, gun drawn at the noise he'd heard. His eyes darted between Shane and Stef on the floor.

"What happened?" Rick asked, frowning at the scene in front of him. Stef ignored Shane's extended hand and got herself to her feet on her own. She brushed down her trousers, and shook her head as she walked past Rick.

"I tripped." She kept walking until she was in one of the bedrooms of the house. She just needed a minute of peace. Now she knew for sure. Something was definitely up with Shane. What had bothered her the most were Shane's words. _Probably cause she's dead_. Is that what he thought? Was this all a waste of time? At least there were some people in the camp who hadn't yet given up hope.

A few seconds later, she heard footsteps approaching, and sighed softly to herself. "I really am sorry." Shane was standing behind her, fidgeting with the baseball cap on his head. "I didn't mean to do it." Stef searched his face for any signs he was lying, but he looked genuinely apologetic. Maybe she had just gotten caught up in his outburst. "Did I hurt you?"

"It's alright, I'm good. Was an accident," Stef offered him half a smile, although it wasn't entirely genuine. The man standing in front of her wasn't the same man she had met that night on the highway. Something had changed him. She wouldn't yet go as far as saying she was scared around him, but she was definitely uncomfortable when they were both alone together.

"Thanks.. for not saying anything to Rick." Stef watched as Shane nervously looked behind him, checking his friend hadn't followed.

"There was nothing to tell. Like I said... accident." Stef turned her attention onto something else, and held her breath, waiting for Shane to leave. She knew an argument between the two men was not what they needed to help find Sophia so had avoided accusing Shane of anything when Rick had looked at them suspiciously. She'd just make sure she was more careful around Shane now. What trust she had in him that he had earned as their leader in the quarry, was starting to fade fast.

"We should get out of here," Rick was now standing in the doorway, holding on to some ammunition he had found in one of the old cabinets in the house. Something she and Daryl had missed the first time. "Let's hope Daryl's having more luck than we are."

* * *

When Daryl's eyes slowly opened again, the sunlight went straight through him, not doing much to help the pounding in his head. He could hear his own breathing. At least he was alive. He could hear the birds singing, not sounding half as good as it had done this morning. And he could hear.. footsteps?

"Why don't ya pull that arrow out, dummy?" Merle? No fucking way. Merle was standing above him, looking down with a sneer. His big brother had come back for him. "Ya can bind yer wound better."

Daryl smiled slightly, his mind still foggy. "Merle."

"Wha's goin' on here? Ya takin' a siesta or somethin'?" Always the sweetheart. Daryl's big brother. Who through everything had stuck with him. As much as they didn't get on most of the time, Merle had practically raised him. And now he was back for him.

No. He couldn't have been. They had lost Merle somewhere in Atlanta. There was about a 0.001% chance that Merle could have found him down here. Daryl had obviously hit his head harder than he had thought. "Shitty day, bro." Daryl didn't even care he was probably talking to a figment of his imagination. He had never cared for company before, but stuck here now he found himself not wanting to be alone.

Merle began to shake his head. "Look at ya. All these years I spent tryin' ta make a man outta ya, and this is what I get? Lyin' in the dirt like a used rubber?" This Merle was a figment of Daryl's imagination, and still Daryl couldn't make him be nice to him. Was he that much of a fuck-up? Was he really that hard to love? "Yer gonna die out here, lil' brother. An' for what?"

Daryl swallowed trying to speak properly, tasting blood as he did so. His voice came out as nothing more than a whisper. His face screwed up at himself. He sounded so weak. "A girl. Lost a lil' girl."

Merle smirked back at him. "So ya' got a thing for lil' girl's now? Cause I noticed ya ain't lookin' for old Merle no more."

"Tried like hell to find ya, bro." Daryl was hurting. Physically. Fucking emotionally too. If only the real Merle knew how much Daryl had wanted to be reunited with him. Because whether the group liked it or not, they came as a pair. It was how it always had been. "All ya had to do was wait." Surely Merle had known his brother wouldn't have left him up on that rooftop. Rick? Maybe. Shane? Sure. But not Daryl. He would have gone back no matter what. Suddenly, Daryl felt the need to defend himself. "We went back. Rick an' I. We did right by ya."

"The same Rick that chained me in the first place? Made me cut off my own hand?" Merle sneered down at him, and Daryl noticed this was definitely not the real Merle. He had both hands, still attached to his body. One of Merle's hands was supposed to be still out there somewhere, likely on the floor of the apartment building, where he had thrown it at the Mexican kid. "You his bitch now?"

"I ain't nobody's bitch," Daryl shifted his head, trying to relieve some of the pain.

"No? What about yer lil' girlfriend? Why didn't ya imagine her here? She coulda kissed ya better," Merle grinned. "Maybe we can share her." Daryl grunted in anger, but didn't have the strength to say anything more. "Ya know why? Ya wanted yer brother. Ya missed me." Daryl half snorted a laugh, as Merle began to get up and pace back and forth in front of him. "Look at ya, yer a joke! Playin' errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, niggers and democrats. Yer nothin' but a freak to them. Rick don't need ya. The girl don't want ya. Redneck trash."

"That ain't true," Daryl spluttered out. Rick and him hadn't had any problems since their initial encounter. Since then the cop had been quite thankful to Daryl, and had welcomed his help. And Stef. She could have picked anyone. Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, even fucking Dale. But she had chosen him. That had to be worth something. "She aint' like that."

"One of these days, she's gonna scrape ya off her heels like ya was dog shit," Merle growled down at him. "Only person who cares about ya is me, lil' brother." Bullshit. Merle hadn't cared when his dad was beating the shit out of him. Merle hadn't cared when he had gotten lost in the woods. Merle hadn't cared when he was so hungry he barely had the energy to function, but wasn't old enough to make his own money for food. Merle didn't care. He had been there, but only because he had to. Not because he wanted to. "If ya had any sense, ya'd go back there n' shoot yer pal Rick in the face for me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about ya except me, lil' brother. Ain't nobody ever will."

Merle started to pull at Daryl's feet. And suddenly he realized why Merle was in front of him, and not Rick or Stef or anyone else. To push him enough that he would get back to this feet. He squeezed his eyes shut as the tugging on his boot continued, but when he reopened them, it wasn't Merle. It was a walker. And it had it's teeth stuck in Daryl's boot. Just what he needed right now. He quickly lifted the stick beside him as he began to shake off the walker. One swift movement through the head was all that was needed to put down the walker. But seconds later, the bushes were making a rustling noise, and another emerged in the distance.

Daryl looked for his crossbow, and thankfully found it beside him. With a cry of pain, he pulled the arrow from his side, feeling every movement it made. He gasped for breath as he took a second to recover, before pulling himself to a sitting position and adjusting his crossbow. It took everything he had to get the arrow lined up and ready to fire, and it was only at the very last second as the walker was about to pounce on him, he managed to fire the arrow straight through the head of the dead man. He relaxed as it stumbled backwards, and landed in the water with a splash.

"Atta' boy." Daryl could hear Merle's voice in his head, and sucked in a harsh breath. He was going to prove his brother wrong.

His stomach growled at him signaling that he needed food, and it made him even more angry.

If it wasn't one thing, it was another. He remembered then he had caught some squirrels, and looked around about to see if he could find them. They had to be down here somewhere. Finally, he seen them sitting beside the waters edge, on a piece of rope he had brought along.

Daryl sat himself down on a log, and prepared one of the squirrels he had caught. If he was going to climb again, he needed all the energy he could get. Pulling out his knife, he sliced the creature down the middle. He was going to have to eat it raw, but at the minute he didn't really give a fuck. His eyes looked at the knife in his hand. It wasn't his. It was Stef's. The one she had given him. Because she wanted him to come back. Merle's words were running through his head at a hundred miles a minute. They weren't really Merle's words though. It wasn't Merle. It was his imagination. Therefore, it was his own thoughts Merle had been speaking. His own doubts about everything. He let out a breath and shook his head, choosing to blame him brother instead of his brain. "Son of a bitch was wrong."

He began eating the squirrel, a mixture of it's blood and his own covering his chin. Not the most satisfying of meals, but all he had. He took another look up the ridge he had fallen from and narrowed his eyes. He would get up this time, and he would make sure of it. When his eyes looked back down, he seen Sophia's doll staring at him. After everything, the damn doll hadn't left him. He walked over and picked it up, reattaching it to the back of his belt. He tightened the fabric around his arrow wound, and tied his boots again. Another idea came to him as he pulled Stef's knife out of the log. Walking over to where the corpses lay on the ground, he sliced off the ears of each one.

Attaching them to the string he had been using for his squirrel, he made himself what could only be described as an ear necklace. That should keep any other walkers away from him for the time being. It wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe he could suggest it to Rick and the whole group could wear a fucking ear necklace each.

It was time. Time to attempt that climb again. As much as he would never admit it, there was a hint of fear in him. If he fell again, surely that would finish him off.

Almost as if waiting for him to fall and die, there were some vultures in the air, starting to circle above him. He wasn't going to give them the pleasure of being their dinner. Hell no.

"Please don't feed the birds." Fuck. He was back. Merle's voice echoed through Daryl's head again, and he looked up to see his older brother smirking at him from the top of the ridge. Daryl shook his head, and groaned in pain, hoping that the vision would go away very soon. "What's tha matter Darylina? That all ya got in you?" Daryl was now downright pissed off.

"Think I liked it better when you was missin," Daryl muttered, as he checked the stability of another branch he reached out for. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, and had to be careful what he was doing.

"Don' be like that.. I'm on yer side. I took care of your worthless ass since the day ya was born." At least now Merle had admitted what he thought of him. Worthless. Maybe he was. No, damn he wasn't. There were people counting on him today to bring back that little girl. They had trusted him enough to go out and look for her. And they had faith he would find her.

Except he had failed them. All he had was a damn doll, and enough injuries to use up half of the medication they had left. Maybe he was worthless after all. Regardless, Merle was still talking crap. And Daryl was feeling up to arguing back this time. Talking to himself. At least it was keeping him moving. "You talked big game, but you was never there."

"Oh I'm here alright," Merle laughed. It was getting rid of him again that was turning out to the be the fucking problem. "I'm as real as yer Chupacabra!"

Daryl growled then, irked that no one believed him still. "Know what I saw."

"Sure it had nothin' to do with those shrooms ya ate?" Merle was howling with laughter now, and it was almost what Daryl needed for the final push to the top. Maybe Merle did have some use after all.

"Ya best shut the hell up," Daryl reached out for another branch, using everything he had left to ascend up the almost completely vertical slope.

"Come on," Merle hollered, pushing Daryl further. If Merle continued, then Daryl could use his rage that was slowly building to get him up..

"Kick of them damn high heels n' climb."

A bit closer...

"Don't think you gonna make it."

Almost there...

"Come on an' grab your friend Rick's hand."

Yes!

Daryl was at the top. He had fucking done it. And Merle was gone. His hand connected with the ground, and with one final push, he was at the top. He crawled away from the edge slightly, wary of toppling backwards and going down again. He laughed out a breath as he rested his head against a tree. He was in so much pain. He didn't know how much breath was left in his lungs, and had lost a good amount of blood. But he had done it. And now, he could make his way back to the farmhouse, hopefully avoiding any more injury.

It might take him a little longer, because he didn't have that fucking horse to take him. In fact, if he met the horse along the way he wasn't sure if he could stop himself from sticking a knife into it. Damn thing.

But he would get back to camp. And he would show Merle that he was wrong. He would show his own imagination he was wrong. Because there were people there that wanted him to come back.


	19. Chapter 19

**I will try my very best to get round to replying to your lovely reviews before my next chapter, I just wanted to get this out! Thank you to everyone again for still reading! :)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef.**_

* * *

Daryl could see the farmhouse. He could see the RV. He could see some members of the group in the distance. It had taken him just over an hour and a half, and he had used up nearly all of his energy, but he had finally made it back. He had found a stick lying around that he had been using as a walking aid for the last half hour or so, helping to ease some of the pressure on his side. Now he was far more familiarized with his weapon, he had experienced exactly how much damage it could do. He'd need to be careful when he got closer to the camp. He didn't look quite as healthy as he had done when he left in the morning. As well as having to trail his leg, he was covered in blood thanks to his squirrel dinner and various wounds, and had a few ears hanging around his neck. Hopefully he could avoid most people for the time being, and get back to his tent to get cleaned up.

A short distance away, Stef smiled to herself, running her fingers along the gift she had gotten for Daryl back at the farmhouse. It was a hunting knife that had been in one of the cabinets she had noticed on the way out. It looked better than both of the ones they had already been carrying, and had a beautiful engraved pattern. She was sitting on a chair on top of the RV, in the warm afternoon sun, along with Andrea, who had tried to avoid helping in the kitchen by keeping watch. Instead, against everyone's wishes, she had spread herself out across the roof, with a rifle in hand, looking for any signs of danger. Hershel hadn't allowed anyone except from Rick to have a gun, so Andrea was pushing it here. If Hershel heard a gun shot going off, it was more than likely they would be booted off the farm as soon as possible and forced to find somewhere else to stay. Stef wondered if Fort Benning was even still the plan. Nobody really talked about what was going to happen when they found Sophia anymore.

Andrea had been concentrating hard, hoping she could spot a walker and take it out from on top of the RV. That way, she could prove to Rick and Shane and everyone else that she was capable of handling a gun and protecting the camp. Not spending her time washing up dishes, or doing other people's dirty laundry. Shane had suggested some shooting practice tomorrow, but Andrea had some experience already. She knew how to shoot. The camp had been quiet most of the morning, but she had spotted something now. There was definitely something shuffling around coming out of the forest. Andrea positioned herself so she had an accurate shot. "Walker!" All the men below the RV immediately began picking up blunt objects and running towards the figure. Fuck that, Andrea could nail it from here.

Rick took the baseball bat that had been sitting on top of Daryl's truck and paused in front of the RV. "We'll take care of it," he advised Andrea, and the blonde woman narrowed her eyes at him. "Hershel doesn't want the use of guns. Only the one?" Andrea nodded and before she could say anything, Rick had followed Shane, T-Dog and Glenn towards the figure in the distance. But as they got closer, it wasn't like the other walkers they had seen. Something about it looked.. familliar?

It was Daryl. And although he looked like he had a rough day, he looked alive. Rick pointed his handgun, just in case. Now that they were further away, Hershel couldn't complain about the gun.

"That's the third time ya pointed that thing at me," Daryl breathed out. Rick smiled in relief that he wasn't a walker, as they hadn't yet come across one who was capable of speech. "Ya gonna shoot this time?" Daryl asked and Rick began to move forward to give him a hand. But in a split second, a noise rang out through the air, and the man in front of him dropped to the ground.

Gunfire.

* * *

Andrea smirked to herself as she got up into a sitting position, feeling satisfied as she had watched the walker fall to the ground. "Got him," she announced, hoping someone would be proud of her.

Stef gave a small chuckle and shook her head slightly in disbelief at the woman. Although Rick had told her not to fire, and Dale had been muttering the same underneath them on the RV, Andrea had gone ahead anyway, and shot at the thing. "I don't think Rick will be too happ-" Stef was cut off as they heard a yell in the distance.

"No!" Rick's cry had both women looking at each other confused. Stef quickly got up of her chair and reached out for Dale's binoculars. Trying to focus them as best as she could, she looked into the distance, trying to figure out what was what behind the rays from the sun that had Rick so worried.

_Rick. _

_Shane. _

_Glenn. _

_T-Dog. _

_They were holding onto a body. Supporting the walker back up?_

_There was more. Crossbow. Arrows. _

_Walker's didn't carry those. _

_Daryl did._

Andrea was holding her breath, more in panic than anything else. It can't have been that bad, right? She knew they weren't supposed to use guns, but she had gotten rid of the walker. Hershel should have been thankful to her more than anything. They would get over it.

The next thing that she heard was the loud clatter of the binoculars falling to the RV roof behind her. The sound of breaking glass had her turn around just in time to see the lens shatter across the surface and Stef standing there, her face having turned chalk white.

"What is it?" Andrea asked quickly, but received no answer as Stef took off down the stairs of the RV. Andrea swallowed her fear and followed behind her, meeting Dale at the bottom. "Dale? What's going on?" Stef was standing, staring out into the distance, her feet frozen on the spot.

"You shot Daryl," Stef's voice was less than a whisper, but Andrea heard everything she said.

* * *

"Was just kiddin'." Thank fuck Daryl was still alive. He had just fallen unconscious under the support of the men who were trying to get him back to camp, but he was still with them. The bullet that Andrea, presumably, had fired had only grazed the side of Daryl's head, thankfully. Any better of a shot and he wouldn't have gotten up again. But Rick noticed his shirt was soaked with blood too, that couldn't possibly have come from his head. After a quick inspection, he found a wound that was concealed with a shirt sleeve, tied tightly around his waist. He had no idea how Daryl had injured himself, but it didn't look good, and the sooner they found Hershel the better.

"Are those ears?" Glenn asked, and it was only then that Rick noticed the necklace Daryl was wearing. They were indeed ears around the mans neck. At least Daryl had been sensible enough to try and use something to keep the walkers away. Either that or he had taken up jewelry making. Rick reached out and pulled them off, slipping them into his pocket so as not to startle anyone in the group.

"Let's keep that to ourselves for now." Rick looked all around for any sign of the doctor.

"Hey, guys?" T-Dog was holding up something he had found attached to Daryl. It was dirty and bloody, but Rick recognized it from the day in the forest. The last time he had seen Sophia. It was the doll she had taken everywhere since one of the Morales' children had given it to her. "Isn't this Sophia's?" It sure was. Had Daryl found something?

"I think so," Rick said, nodding his head. "Alright, here's what we need to do. Shane, you and I will get Daryl into the house. Glenn, you need to go and find Hershel, _now_." Glenn took off to look for the man before Rick could finish. "T-Dog.. go back to the group. Maybe we shouldn't say anything to Carol about the doll yet, wait and see what else Daryl found." T-Dog nodded and headed off in the direction of where everyone was standing staring at them, as Rick continued with Shane towards the house. He seen Andrea, watching beside Dale, various expressions covering her face. Fear, guilt, sadness... Carol was standing looking worried, and looking around too, likely for any sign of her daughter. He seen Stef, her face blank as her eyes followed them towards the house. Rick knew she was probably closest to Daryl out of everyone in the group, and tried his best to offer her a reassuring smile, although the man beside him was still unconscious, and continuing to bleed.

* * *

"Is he dead?" Stef asked quietly, as T-Dog approached her. He shook his head, and she let out a rush of breath. When she had seen Rick and Shane carry his lifeless body into the house it had felt like someone was repeatedly kicking her in the stomach. Now she understood why relationships shouldn't be formed in times like this. It was far too easy for someone to be taken away.

"He's just unconscious," T-Dog assured, trying to comfort the younger woman as much as possible. "Glenn's going to find Hershel, we'll get him fixed up."

Stef just gave a small nod and sat herself down on the steps of the RV. T-Dog sat down beside her and rubbed her arm, reassuringly. "I don't think you can kill off Daryl Dixon that easily." T-Dog smiled when Stef laughed softly. He had seen the way Daryl had behaved around her at breakfast. If Lori or Andrea had given him food or tried to conversate, he likely wouldn't even have bothered to respond. It was obvious they cared about each other, although they might not have admitted it.

"Did the bullet do much damage?" Stef asked, any confidence she had built up around guns, gone in a flash.

"Just grazed his head." T-Dog silently thanked God that it had been Andrea who had shot at him and not Shane or Rick, or someone much more experienced with a gun. As much as T-Dog had found himself wishing at times Daryl would disappear, he didn't genuinely want him to be killed. "Something else happened him though. He's got a pretty bad wound on his side."

"You don't know what?" Stef's face showed panic again as she looked towards the house. "A bite?!" Just as Stef spoke, they seen Hershel hurrying into the house behind Glenn.

"No, nothing like that," T-Dog shook his head. Although he wasn't entirely sure that Daryl hadn't been bitten. "He found this," T-Dog quietly showed the doll to Stef. Her eyes widened as she recognized the object. "Maybe he'll know something when he wakes up." At least Daryl had gotten a trace of the girl, more than anyone else had done so far. That way, they might have been able to put some hope back into the camp.

Stef, Rick and Shane had came back with nothing today, and Daryl had managed through everything to return Sophia's doll to camp. To her mother.

The two of them sat on the steps of the RV for what had to be at least twenty minutes. They didn't speak, but T-Dog remained in her presence. Daryl might not have been awake yet, but Rick hadn't came with any updates. No news was good news, right?

"Wanna go see how he's doing?" T-Dog asked, standing up and offering his hand to Stef. She had wanted to follow the first time, but didn't know what she would do with herself if he was already dead, or something had happened to him inside. Slowly she nodded her head, and took T-Dog's hand, heading in the direction of the farmhouse.

* * *

Daryl's eyes cracked open, making him groan involuntarily. His side was in a hell of a lot of pain, and he could feel hands settled on him, moving back and forward, no doubt trying to stitch him up. His head hurt like fuck too, but he could sense that had already been bandaged up, feeling the itchy material against his skin. He swallowed, trying to get rid of his dry throat so he could speak. He did a quick scan of the room. The doctor was sitting beside him on the bed, working away. Rick and Shane were both sitting watching him on different chairs.

When Rick noticed movement, he stood up. "Hey, how you feeling?"

"Bout as good as I look," Daryl groaned, as he felt every small movement when Hershel was stitching him up.

The older man wasn't being as gentle as Daryl thought he could have been. Hershel looked down at him, narrowing his eyes. "Any idea where my horse is?"

"If it's smart, it'll have left the country." Daryl wasn't going to be doing much horseriding anytime soon. And if Nelly happened to make a reappearance, then he wouldn't be held responsible for his actions.

"Where did you find that doll?" Shane asked, almost impatiently, as if he had only been waiting for Daryl to wake up to question him. At least Rick had asked how he was first.

"Bottom of a creek. Damn horse threw me off-"

"Could've told you she might if you had asked," Hershel interrupted, irritating Daryl. "We call her Nervous Nelly."

"Whatever. Fell down a ridge twice, an' got one of my arrows in my side. Sophia's doll was lyin' in the water. I'll rest up fer a bit, then take another trip there."

"You're going to be out of action for a few days," Hershel informed, much to Daryl's annoyance. "You need to rest."

Daryl turned his head slightly when he heard a knock at the door. The door opened slowly and Stef appeared at the other side, with T-Dog standing behind her.

Daryl fought the urge to smile. He fought the urge to push Hershel off the bed and reach out to her. Instead he remembered what current state he was in. He turned himself back to Rick, and let out a sigh. She walked over towards him and smiled, but Daryl didn't meet her eyes.

"Ya should go," Daryl grumbled, pressing the side of his head closer to the pillow wishing that the softness would take some of the pain away. He needed to man up and face it, but it was just too damn nice to be in a soft bed for once.

"I just.." Stef began to hold out the knife she had for Daryl that she had been gripping onto since she had seen him unconscious but he cut her off.

"Go." His voice came out louder and more forcefully this time. "Don' want ya here." His face screwed up, regretting his own words, but it was true. He didn't want her to see him like this. Not only was he feeling much weaker than usual, but his torso was naked, and all the scars he had ever received were visible for anyone to see. He hadn't minded so much with the men, but Stef was different. He didn't want her feeling sorry for him.

Daryl could tell her gaze was still on him. "Fine," he heard her mutter, before there was a few footsteps, and the noise of a door shutting, rather forcefully, behind her. Daryl noticed Rick looking at him, with a disappointed expression on his face, but he said nothing. Instead, he walked over towards the door as the doctor finished his work.

"I'll let you rest for a bit," he said quietly, before leaving, followed by Hershel who had gathered up his medical supplies.

And then Daryl was alone. But he tried to convince himself that it was for the best. Before he pulled up his sheet fully, he took a quick look at his stomach. He knew every scar that was there, and what they were there for.

There was the one he had gotten for making a noise when his old man had been trying to watch television.

There was the one he had gotten when he had eaten the last of the bread one day.

There were the numerous cigarette burns where his dad had mistaken him for an ashtray.

Along with so many others. 18 years of torture, before he finally got away.

He closed his eyes tightly shut, and tried his best to sleep for a bit. That way he could forget about things.

* * *

Dinner was tense. Everybody had gathered around the table in Hershel's dining room. Well, not quite everybody could fit, and Glenn, Maggie, Beth and Jimmy had been stuck sitting around a smaller table at the side. Carol and Lori had served up a good dinner, with chicken, potatoes and vegetables, and Hershel had even allowed them to have a couple of bottles of wine once he had agreed to the idea. But the only thing missing that would have made it better would have been decent conversation. Except nobody seemed to want to talk.

Stef poked around at the food on her plate, hungry, but not up to eating anything. She felt too rejected to eat. Had Daryl discovered in his apparent near death experience that he didn't actually want her? Just when they had been beginning to get somewhere, he had turned her away. She could tell that Rick was looking over at her, but instead, she kept her attention on the potato on her plate. Carol was sitting beside her, and Stef noticed she had brought over another empty plate. Carol began to add stuff to the plate from the centre of the table, making sure there was plenty of food on it. She then filled a glass of water, and stood up.

"Please excuse me for a bit, I'm going to take some food up to Daryl." Stef hadn't even thought about taking him anything. He was probably starving, but he'd probably just tell her to get out again.

"Good luck with that," Stef muttered, as she stuck her fork into the meat on her plate. She had to admit, she was feeling quite bitter at the minute. She hadn't done anything wrong that she could think of. She looked up at Andrea who was sitting at the opposite end of the table and the other woman smiled at her. It looked like an apologetic smile. Stef hadn't said anything to her since the incident this afternoon. She had been told not to fire that gun, but she had gone ahead and done it anyway. She deserved to be feeling bad.

Five minutes or so passed quietly. Glenn made a comment from the side about the guitar that Dale had found for him on the highway, but no one responded. This was worse than awkward.

Carol appeared again, and sat down on her chair. Stef felt a soft hand on her shoulder. "Daryl wants to talk to you," Carol spoke quietly, beginning to eat her own food again, which was probably starting to get cold by now.

Stef nodded her head to let Carol know she had heard her, but made no move to get up. Instead she sat in the company of everyone else and continued to pick at her food. The time started to pass.

_Five minutes._

_Ten minutes._

_Fifteen minutes._

She did want to hear what Daryl had to say, but she was feeling like being stubborn for once. So she sat at the table, and waited until everyone was done with the dinner. Carol and the rest of her helpers had taken the time to prepare the meal, and the least she could do was force herself to eat what she had been given.

Once everybody had finished, Stef helped Patricia gather up everyone's dishes, and take them through to the kitchen with her. Patricia was a lovely woman, who had been quiet since her husband's death. She thanked Stef as she began to help with the washing up. Rick suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Stef, can I talk to you for a minute?"

She held up the plate in her hand, signaling that she was helping Patricia with the dishes. "Can you give me ten minutes or so?"

Patricia reached out to take the plate out of her hand. "Go on," the older woman instructed, turning back to the sink. "I got this."

Stef followed Rick out of the house, onto the porch. She had an idea of what he wanted to talk about, but didn't want him feeling pity for her. "What's up?"

"You should talk to him... I heard Carol." Stef didn't reply, instead looked out over the area they had set up, and were currently calling home. "He's had a rough day." Rick retold the story of how Daryl had been thrown off the horse, and what he had endured following that. "He probably wasn't feeling himself earlier."

"I guess so," Stef nodded slowly, trying to stop feeling sorry for herself. "I'll head up now."

Rick smiled as she turned to head back for the house. There was something about her that he really liked. "If you ever want to talk... I have ears."

"Thanks Rick."

* * *

Daryl had started to fall alseep, giving up on thinking Stef would come back. He had fucked it up this time, surely. Merle had been right after all. He should have explained it earlier, but didn't want to sound like a pussy with Rick and Shane around. So when Carol had visited, he had seen a way to try and fix it. But there had been nothing.

Until now.

He heard a timid knock on the door, and then there was a moment of hesitation before it opened up. Daryl struggled to get himself into a sitting upright position, clutching at his side, and breathing heavily as he did so. He pulled the sheet up over himself and watched as Stef sat down warily on the chair that was situated in the corner of the room.

"You wanted something?" Stef asked, her face not showing any expression at all. Her voice wasn't cold, but it didn't have the friendliness that it normally carried.

"M'sorry," Daryl grunted out after a minute. It took a lot for him to apologize for something. He hadn't gotten much practice over the years, and didn't know how sincere it sounded. "For earlier. Didn' want ya to see me... like this." He gestured to the bandage on his head, and reached out for his glass of water sitting on the bedside table. His nerves were probably more the reason he had gotten his dry throat. He had no experience in this area at all.

"_Why_ Daryl?" Stef asked, exasperated, letting out a long sigh. She didn't understand. After everything the group had been through. He had seen her in tears, more than once. Covered in blood and dirt, and who knows what else. She didn't expect him to be tough all the time. "Do you think I'm going to laugh at you or something?"

"I don' know," Daryl growled out, shocked at the power behind his own voice.

"I don' know, cause I don' know how to do this," he said more softly, feeling his face heat up at his embarrassment at the situation. He was admitting a hell of a lot here, but if she was going to understand, then he was going to have to. "No one's ever bothered 'bout me 'fore. Then ya fucked that all up."

"I do apologize," Stef mumbled sarcastically from where she was sitting.

"Ya don' get it," Daryl shook his head tiredly. "Wanted... want ya to.. But I aint' worth it. Ya could do better." This was it. Daryl was giving her the chance to get away. If imaginary Merle, or rather his own doubts, were right, then she would take it and run. This was the only way Daryl could know if Stef really did want him. His heart did a flip when she got up off her chair, thinking that she was actually going to leave.

Instead, she walked over to beside his bed, and sat down, careful not to touch him, so as not to hurt him. "Don't talk shit Daryl," Stef could see the man in front of her was clearly battling with emotions, and it was strange to him. "Of course you're worth it. Far more than anyone else I've known." After all, Daryl had spent the day risking his life for a little girl he barely knew. "You're intelligent. You're kind." Stef knew that maybe didn't extend to everyone in the group, but he was nice enough to her. "You're far more interesting than anyone else in the group."

"Stop 'fore my head gets any bigger," Daryl smirked slightly, earning a smile from Stef. Did she really think that highly of him? She was too damn nice for her own good to stay angry at him. Too good.

"I'm serious though, Daryl." The smile faded on Stef's face, but it didn't leave completely. "You make this shit life more bearable." Nobody ever said anything like that to him, and he didn't know how to respond. She reached out to push back the hair that had fallen into Daryl's eyes. Initially, he tensed up again, but took a deep breath, and searched for her hand with his own. He was going to have to learn how to trust her.

It was too late before Daryl remembered his hand had been holding up the bedsheet. Time slowed in his mind as it dropped down, and exposed his torso. Although the lighting in the room was dim, everything was visible. He knew for a fact this time his face had turned red. No other woman had seen him like this. He always made sure his top half was covered, even when he'd found himself a girl in a bar that would have done him for a night. In fact, apart from earlier on when Hershel had been working on him, no one had ever seen him like this.

Daryl watched as her eyes roamed over his body, but she didn't say anything.

"Tha's what I didn' want ya to see," Daryl said quietly. His arms folded in front of him, trying to cover as much as possible, but Stef reached out to try and pry his arms apart. "Ain't pretty, Stef."

"Don't care, Daryl." Stef carefully reached out to touch his bare skin, not wanting to startle him. The faded red lines all over his chest proved just how hard Daryl's life had been. From the small snippets of information he had let slip every now and then she had figured it hadn't been good, but this was something else. His childhood must have been torturous.

Her fingers started to move, running over each of the scars. Daryl's whole body had stiffened at his discomfort, and his breathing was coming faster. But reluctantly, he let her work her fingers over his chest.

"They're part of you." Stef looked at each of the marks from where he had taken some injuries, not sure as to who from. She remembered he hadn't gotten along with his father, and she wondered if that was who was responsible. She leaned forward, and careful not to touch anywhere he was sore, placed a kiss between his shoulder and his neck. "So it doesn't bother me."

Daryl swallowed as she leaned back. This was almost too much for him. Was he scared of her? Physically.. no. Emotionally.. fuck yes. When he looked into her eyes, Stef could see the unease he was feeling.

"I'm not going to hurt you Daryl. I promise."


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm sorry for the delay with this chapter.. I wrote it about 3 times before I thought it was post-able Also, the story has gone up to Rated M, I think y'all know what that means ;) If reading that is not your kind of thing, I'd advise skipping the second last bit of the chapter.**

**I thought it might have been too early for that, but then I thought what the hell.. If I had been one of the survivors in the camp I couldn't have kept my hands off Daryl from day one! So Stef finally lost restraint too.**

**WinterIsComing1015**: Lol, I know what you mean about Andrea. I liked her even less after Season 3 and the whole Governor/Michonne thing. I think she does need to be put in her place, and Stef isn't much of a fighter, but after she has finished giving her the silent treatment, I can see a bit of conflict. I actually have something planned when Andrea gives Beth the option of killing herself... Stef might get slightly pissed then, hint hint ;) P.S. I love your stories!

**Theta-McBride**: To answer your earlier question about Sophia still being alive - I did actually think about it. I'm not sure if I want to follow the story line or if I want to change things up a bit. I know some of the group wouldn't have developed so much if she hadn't been killed, but I wanted nothing more than to see her coming back unharmed on the TV program. So it's still to be decided ;)

**FuchsiaGrasshopper**: I know, Daryl is just so... wow. If I was actually there I would probably have died long ago thanks to just stalking Daryl 24/7. I don't think I've ever loved a fictional character so much, haha. Norman Reedus helps with that!

**FanFicGirl10**: Your wish is my command! Ha, I hope you like this, cause I'm not even sure that I do. And thank you for reviewing every one of my chapters! It really means a lot :)

**To everyone else who reviews, **_**SilverAdvenger12, RainahT, Ravenclaw Slytherin, UndeadSheWolfxx, Kelli83, Anna BadFairy**_** and everyone who has reviewed previous chapters.. Thank you all! Every review keeps me writing and you are all so kind! Now onto the chapter, I hope you enjoy it, and hopefully it doesn't take so long for the next one to be up! Next chapter will be Glenn/Maggie at the pharmacy again, T-Dog and Stef's search for Sophia and maybe even some Lori/Stef and the items Glenn brings back! **

**Oh, and there's a surprise next chapter too. I've been thinking about it for a while and I'm going to go ahead with it ;)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC, Stef! **_

* * *

Daryl Dixon had a girlfriend. Because although none of the two of them had put a name to whatever this was, technically that's what she had become. And Daryl had a proper girlfriend this time. Not just some whore from a bar that was using him for drinks or money or whatever. A respectable girl, who actually cared for him. He almost couldn't believe it himself.

He wondered what the real Merle would have thought. Probably would have just laughed at him and told him that he was becoming soft.

He wondered what his Ma and Pa would have thought. And then he almost laughed. They wouldn't have given a fuck. Stef's father had died, so that would be one less for him to impress. He doubted that her mother would have approved of him too much. He wasn't really 'meet the parents' material, and didn't think a lot of mothers would take a liking to him.

Stef hadn't left him since she had came into his room about an hour ago. She hadn't asked anything about the scars she had seen, much to Daryl's relief. Maybe one day he would tell her about them. But not right now.

Instead, Stef had moved so that she was staring out the window, her arms folded across her chest. She could see the camp getting ready to head to their tents to sleep in the dim light provided by the fire. What looked like Glenn, was walking over towards the direction of the barn. She narrowed her eyebrows slightly, wondering what he was doing. Hershel had told them not to go near the barn, thanks to the buildings unstable structure, but she was ninety nine percent sure that's where he was heading.

She noticed Andrea sitting atop the RV, but she didn't have a gun with her this time. A part of her was still pissed at the girl, but a part of her felt sorry for her too. She wasn't the same Andrea, the one that she had met that day on the highway. In fact, if it hadn't been for Andrea, Amy and Dale, she would have been stuck in her own car, and probably wouldn't have followed the group of people to the quarry. She wouldn't have found Glenn. She wouldn't have found Daryl. She probably wouldn't have survived.

But since Amy had died, Andrea had been a completely different person. Understandable, really. The pain of losing a sibling, especially one as close as the two had been, was something she would never fully understand. It had hurt her quite a bit too, and she wasn't even related. Amy was so young, so full of life.

"What'cha thinkin' bout'?" Daryl asked, making her turn around, and sit on the opposite side of his bed. "Yer quiet."

"Just people we've lost," she answered quietly. "Amy, Jim, Jacqui.."

"Merle." Daryl's voice was also so quiet that Stef didn't know if he had actually said it or not. This would have been the first time he had talked about him since they had came back from Atlanta.

"Do you miss him?" Stef asked, noticing Daryl lower his head. He might not admit it, but she knew that deep down, Daryl loved Merle, no matter how much he tried to deny it. His reaction when Rick had told him that Merle was lost made it easy to see that.

"At times," Daryl admitted quietly, almost as if it pained him to say out loud. "Merle's a tough son of a bitch though. M'sure he's still out there somewhere."

"If he is, I'm sure we'll find him," Stef reached out for his hand again, and sighed gently when Daryl flinched. He wasn't used to being touched this much. Everything was a learning experience for him from here on. She wondered what it would be like if they did find Merle again. Would he pull away from her, and go back into the shell he had very slowly started to come out of?

"Jus' like we'll find Sophia," he nodded in agreement. Daryl hadn't given up on her. He was certain that she was still out there somewhere, and they would get her back to her mother. Carol had been so thankful to him when she had brought him dinner earlier, for what he had done, and he didn't know what it would be like if he failed her in finding her baby. How would she look at him then?

Fuck, where did all these feelings come from?

"Shane thinks she's dead." Stef looked away from him and out the window again.

"Ya think he's right?" Daryl asked, somewhat in irritation. Now he really was starting to think he was the only who thought she'd come back.

"No," she answered quickly, shaking her head. "But I think Shane has a lot more influence on the camp than we do." Shane wanted to move on. But for the minute, Rick was intent on staying here, until Carol and her daughter were reunited.

Daryl nodded in agreement, and Stef fell silent for a bit.

"Can I stay in your truck for the night?" When Daryl looked at her in confusion, she bit down on her lip nervously. "I don't want to bother Maggie, staying in her room any longer. And I think Glenn is letting T-Dog sta-"

"Yeah," Daryl interrupted, making her look up to meet his eyes. Then he remembered what his tent probably looked like. His clothes scattered from getting ready quickly this morning. His dirty sleeping bag stuffed into the corner. Probably not the most homely of places. "Or ya can stay here."

"Huh?" When she raised her eyebrow, Daryl gestured to the other side of the bed.

"Big enough. An' I don' usually care, but it's comfy as hell." He felt his face heat up, suddenly feeling nervous. He was hoping that he hadn't made her uncomfortable with his suggestion, and tried a joke to lighten the tension. "As long as ya don' snore too much."

Stef gave a small laugh, but didn't say anything. Instead, she kicked off her boots, and still fully clothed, lay back on the bed. She cast a sideways glance beside her, and gave Daryl a smile. "Thanks, Daryl."

* * *

Maggie put away the last of the dishes she had dried after Patricia had finished with them. Dinner hadn't been as successful as she imagined Lori and Carol had hoped, and afterwards, they had all broken up and gone to their respective areas. Her father was in the office, and Beth and Jimmy had disappeared somewhere leaving her alone. Rick appeared in the kitchen from behind Maggie and gave her a small smile.

"I don't suppose you could do me a favor?" Rick asked, and Maggie hesitantly nodded. She wasn't sure what she could do to help Rick. If he wanted her to talk to her dad about something, she would rather he did it himself. She had heard from previous conversations that Rick wanted his group to stay here, but her dad wasn't too keen on the idea. She wasn't sure that even she could convince him otherwise.

"Could you check on Daryl for me?" It was an odd request but one that she didn't mind doing. "I'm not sure if Stef is still with him or not, just incase he needs anything." He would have gone himself, but didn't want to appear nosey.

Rick hadn't heard anything from the two of them since Stef had gone to see him over an hour ago now. He had faith that Daryl wouldn't do anything to hurt her, but wanted to make sure everything was alright anyway. Maggie smiled before nodding and turning to head up the stairs. She didn't want to interrupt a conversation, but when she only heard silence, she pushed the bedroom door open slightly.

Daryl was lying underneath the sheets, with his eyes tightly closed. Stef was on top of the sheets, still dressed, and sound asleep too. Maggie grinned at the sight in front of her. Daryl had reached out his arm, and was covering Stef's hand with his own. As quietly as she could, Maggie crept across the floor, her eyes narrowing every time she hit a squeaky floorboard. When she got to the bedside, she turned off the light that had still been glowing atop the table. Before any of them woke up, she made her way out of the room, and shut the door gently behind her.

When she met Rick at the bottom of the stairs, her smile was still in place, and she gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Nothing to worry about." Maggie continued walking until she was out on the porch. Only then did she pull out the note that Glenn had given to her at the dinner table. Although she said it had been a one time thing, she had given in and agreed to meet up with Glenn somewhere in private again. They were also heading back to the pharmacy tomorrow at Glenn's request, giving them more time together.

She was feeling alone. Even her little sister had someone to comfort her. Jimmy had been dating Beth for about three months, and when the world had gone to shit, he had moved in with them. That was one way to push a relationship along. And seeing Stef with Daryl only made her long for company even more. So she felt happier than she had in a while when she began unfolding the piece of paper, her eyes beginning to read what Glenn had written to her. She had noticed her father and the older man of Glenn's group, possible named Dale, looking at her when they had passed it under the table, and she didn't miss the look of disappointment on her fathers face. Hopefully, this was worth it.

_Ever done it in a hayloft?_

Glenn's handwriting made Maggie's breath catch in her throat. Her heart seemed to drop to her feet as her head immediately shot up to look over to the barn. Glenn had left before her, no doubt going to set up something more comfortable, and she cursed herself for not reading the note quicker. Glenn was probably at the barn. Glenn was probably _in _the barn.

Before she had time to think it through, she had dashed back into the house for a torch, and took off in a run towards the barn, hearing the chilling sounds of the dead moaning when she got closer. She prayed Glenn had been distracted somewhere, and was still back at his own camp.

He couldn't find what was in there.

* * *

Morning came far too fast for Stef's liking. Reluctantly, she had gotten herself out of the warm, comfortable bed, and into the cool morning air of the camp. The area was relatively quiet, and the only people around were Shane and Dale, who were sitting beside the small campfire they had created. There was some breakfast made, and Stef thought Dale had taken up the cooking, until she noticed Lori and Carl, over feeding the chickens. It was nice to see Carl out and about again, almost having fully recovered from his injury. Stef made up a plate of breakfast for Daryl, along with a fresh glass of water, and delivered it to him before rejoining the two men around the campfire.

"How is he this morning?" Dale asked, putting together a plate of breakfast for her.

"He's doing OK, but he's adamant he's getting out of that room today," Stef gave a small smile. When she had taken him breakfast, he had been trying to get himself dressed to head outside and try and aid the camp in some way with looking for Sophia. Luckily, Hershel had came in at the right time to give him his medication and convinced him to get back into bed. "Maybe when Rick appears we can get him up for a bit."

"That's good to hear," Shane commented quietly from the side. Stef just gave him a smile and a nod. Everyone knew that Shane wasn't Daryl's number one fan, and she couldn't help but feel that he was only being nice for show. Dale's slightly raised eyebrow suggested that she wasn't the only person thinking the same way. Shane's gaze was lingering on Stef's elbow, just where a small bruised had formed where it had collided with the table yesterday. "We're going for some shooting practice today, you're welcome to join us."

"No thanks," Stef declined quietly. Daryl had kept his offer to practice alone with her, especially today he had free time when he couldn't do anything too strenuous.

"If you change your mind, you know where we'll be." Shane stood, and headed off in the direction of his tent, dumping his plate in the dirty dishes pile as he did so. Dale's eyes seemed to follow every move he made, and the older man's expression darkened. Stef clearly wasn't the only one growing suspicious of the former cop.

"I'm sorry I broke your binoculars," Stef smiled at Dale, remembering that they had slipped out of her hands in shock at Daryl's lifeless body.

Dale shook his head and chuckled quietly. "They're replaceable. Daryl is not." She had missed talking to the older man, who she would almost say had taken on her father figure in the camp. If anything ever happened to Dale, then she would sure as hell miss him. "Hershel has given us another pair to use."

T-Dog joined them at the fire not long afterwards. "You got anything planned today, Stef?"

"Not really, why?"

"Thought maybe you might want to join me for a walk in the woods later, see if we can see any sign of Sophia. Once we come back from gun practice." Stef smiled at the suggestion, not minding to go out with T-Dog. The man could be really funny at times, and at least might brighten up the task of looking for the little girl for a bit.

"Sound's good."

* * *

Rick had helped Shane take Daryl out of the bed he had been confined to, downstairs, and out into the fresh air. The bandage had been taken off his head, and replaced with a small patch that hid the wound where Andrea's bullet had just missed. His side was still wrapped up, but not in as much pain as it had been, thanks to Hershel's morning medication. Once the group had finished lunch, they had taken off to a field, far enough away that Hershel was happy with the use of guns. Daryl and Stef had stayed back, and were standing outside of his tent.

"Why don' we just work on the aim for today, yeah?" Daryl handed her the gun, which she noticed he had unloaded. In theory, it was now harmless, but it didn't make her panic any less. She looked into his eyes before taking a small step closer, and extending her hand.

"It doesn't bother you?" She felt the cool metal touch her skin, and turned around to aim into the distance once she had a firm grip on the weapon. "Having a gun after you were shot?"

"Wasn't the gun's fault," Daryl muttered, settling his hands onto Stef's arms, and straightening out her aim. "Was Andrea's. Gun's don' kill people. People kill people."

Stef gave a small laugh at him, and looked into the distance. She had to admit, she did feel a bit badass standing here with the gun pointed. Daryl kicked gently at the back of her legs, so she was standing with them more parted, helping her to balance easier. If the gun was loaded, it would probably feel very different, but right now, she was comfortable with it.

Although that might have more to do with the man pressed into her back, his warm breath on her neck. She could feel his gaze on the back of her head, and knew that he was no longer interested in looking into the distance either. She swallowed nervously, before the hand still resting on her arm moved so it spun her around.

Their faces were only inches apart and Daryl leaned in closer so that his lips barely brushed hers. "Ya sure this is what ya want?" he asked quietly, his hand starting to move up and down her arm, creating a different kind of heat forming in her stomach. He looked so nervous and lost, and Stef gave him the most reassuring smile that she could. When would he realize that she had been wishing for this since their first encounter at the quarry?

"More than anything." She barely had time to reply before Daryl's lips were on hers again, but much rougher this time. Only a few seconds passed before Daryl had slipped his tongue into her mouth and his hands wound up in her hair, pulling her closer to him. When they eventually had to pause for breath, only then did Daryl seem to remember where they were. Everyone had taken off to Shane's practice, so the camp was quiet, but they were still in view if anyone came back. Public displays of affection were definitely not his thing.

His hands rested on her shoulders, and gently guided her back into his tent. His sleeping bag was rolled out, and although not the cleanest at the moment, he no longer seemed to care as they both lowered themselves down on top of it. He winced slightly as a pain shot through his injured side. Stef seemed to catch the movement, and immediately pulled away. Daryl growled in frustration at the loss of contact.

"You OK?" Instead of replying, Daryl answered her question with another series of insistent kisses. It started with her mouth, but eventually his lips began to work their way over her jaw, down her throat and onto her neck to finish with. Her body shuddered at the contact and she smiled into his hair. "I'll take that as a yes then."

Honestly, Daryl was hurting. Quite a bit. But this was what he wanted, and needed, and he'd be damned if his wound was going to stop him. This was what he had wanted for quite some time now, but had never acted on it, never being able to tell if she was serious about wanting him back. But last night was all the confirmation that he needed. It felt a bit like Christmas now that it might actually happen. Better than any fucking Christmas he had ever had.

His hands began to work at the buttons on her shirt, not being able to get them out as quick as he would have liked to. He was almost ready to just rip the damn thing apart, but what little was left of his patience kept telling him not to. She mirrored the action on him, being careful not to put any pressure on his bandaged area as she did so. His hands began to explore unfamiliar territory, running over the bare skin of her chest, stomach and arms as the material fell from her body. His fingers played with the delicate bra straps before sliding them off her shoulder and kissing the flesh that he found.

Her fingers worked at his belt buckle and loosened his jeans, as he tried to urgently kick them off his legs. Once they were thrown to the floor of the tent, he set to work on her own jeans, popping the button, and slowly pulling down the zipper. Their lack of food meant that the clothes were more loose fitting on them all, which saved time here. He slipped them down her legs, and admired the view for a minute before crawling back up her body.

His lips once again worked over the skin that was exposed. His mouth found her breast and enveloped it, making her breath leave her body in a rush as she wriggled underneath him. Everything bad outside of the tent seemed to have just been forgotten about in a second. They spent a while exploring each others bodies, before Daryl couldn't wait to take it further, and made quick work of discarding the underwear of them both. He positioned himself above her, taking as much of his weight as he could on his arms.

Daryl looked into her eyes, and froze, almost as if asking for permission, and Stef simply smiled at him in acceptance. His eyes never left hers as he slowly eased into her, both of them gasping in pleasure. Both of them stilled for a moment, wanting to enjoy this as much as possible. She wrapped her fingers into his hair as he slowly began to move inside of her. After a moment to get used to the feeling, which both of them hadn't experienced for so long, their bodies began to move in perfect harmony. Her hips raised up to meet his every thrust as he stretched her arms above her head, his fingers lacing with her own. Daryl found her lips again and covered them with his own, helping to stop the groans of pleasure that were threatening to escape him.

"God, Daryl.." she moaned his name against his mouth, and he had never heard her voice sound so beautiful. Her back was arched up, and her head threw back, her hair brushing off the surface of the sleeping bag.

Daryl was moving slowly. Not because of any pain, just for the fact he wanted this to last as long as possible. The pain had vanished, and been replaced with something indescribably good. It felt so... different... now that he actually cared about the person underneath him. He wanted this to feel just as good for her as it did for him. He knew he wasn't going to last a while though, it had been too damn long. When Stef wrapped her legs around his back to pull him closer, Daryl lost whatever control he had left and started to increase the rhythm.

"Ya alright?" he breathed into her ear, taking her earlobe into his mouth and sucking gently. Unable to form words properly, all that she could manage was a quick nod of her head. She silently worshiped his large, muscular body that was pressed into her, making it feel like they had meshed into one human being instead of two.

Thankfully, it didn't take long before Daryl felt Stef squeeze his hand, almost painfully, as her body started to tighten around his. She muffled her cries into his neck as the first tidal wave of pleasure crashed over the top of her. Once her body had stopped trembling and he felt her go weak in his arms, he couldn't put it off any longer, and buried himself inside her, letting his own release take over him as he joined her in the ecstasy they had created, as his teeth clamped down on her neck, silencing him.

They stayed intertwined for a long moment, panting and trying to get their breathing back to normal.

Daryl smiled as he took a long look at her contented face, but pushed himself up on his elbows when he noticed the small bead of blood forming on her neck, where his teeth had gotten too carried away. _Fuck_. "I hurt you," Daryl swallowed, his voice quiet as his face began to screw up. He was used to being rough, and didn't think anything about it at the time.

"No, you didn't," Stef placed a hand on either side of his face and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "That was perfect." She stretched out as Daryl rolled off her, and reached to unzip his sleeping bag, enough so that he could slip under it. "We've got some time until the others come back, you should rest for a bit more."

Daryl muttered something about wanting to get up and help the others with their search for Sophia, but finally gave up and reluctantly climbed back into his sleeping bag. He watched as Stef slowly got dressed. "Where you goin'?"

"To the camp, thought I could get some dinner made for everyone coming back."

"Plenty of time, like ya said," Daryl tried out a smile, and nodded towards the sleeping bag. Stef chuckled quietly, but kicked her boots to the side, and climbed into the sleeping bag with him. It was a tight squeeze, and Daryl didn't usually fucking cuddle, but right now he was so satisfied, he didn't even care. She rested her head onto his chest and splayed her fingers out over his stomach. Again, it took him a minute when she ran them over his scars before he settled.

"Five minutes wouldn't do any harm I suppose," Stef buried her head into him, as close as she could get.

_Ten minutes went by._

_Twenty minutes went by._

The next time Daryl looked down at her, he laughed quietly to himself as he noticed her eyes closed, and her chest rising and falling softly. So much for the five minutes.

Merle's face passed through his head, and he could hear him chuckling at the sight of Daryl. As quickly as he had appeared, Daryl pushed the image out of his head, and reassured himself. He wasn't pathetic. He was changing. He was becoming a better man.

* * *

Andrea felt a bit happier coming back from gun practice. It was good enough that Shane and Rick had actually let her near a gun again, even better that Shane had been impressed with her skills, and offered to give her advanced lessons. Maybe then she would actually be able to hit directly in the middle of the head, and not just graze the walkers like she had done with Daryl. Although that had been a lucky thing at the time. She hadn't spoken to Daryl since the incident, and felt bad that he was probably stuck in his tent, bored out of his mind. As everyone else dispersed she had found herself heading back to the RV. She was half tempted to join Maggie and Glenn on their trip to the pharmacy, hoping for a bit of action, but the tense atmosphere between the two younger adults had her thinking otherwise.

Instead, she browsed through the library that Dale had collected over the years and picked out the most interesting book she could find. The one she thought Daryl would find the most interesting. It was time to apologize to the people she had fucked up with, starting with the main one. Eventually, she had picked out some kind of crime novel. Daryl didn't strike her as a romance kind of guy, and Dale didn't really have a vast selection.

She walked over towards Daryl's tent, and pulled back the flap slightly. Daryl was staring at her wide eyed, and it took a minute before she noticed the other figure curled up closely to him, and the various clothing garments scattered all over the floor. Suddenly her face went red, and her eyes darted anywhere except for looking at Daryl. She heard him shuffle in the sleeping bag, and backed out slowly. "Gimme a minute!" She wasn't making a great start with her apology, already hearing the irritation in the man's voice. She nodded outside, although he couldn't see her, and nervously began to twist the edge of the book cover.

A few minutes later, Daryl emerged fully dressed, but clutching onto his side, his breathing having sped up at the fast movements of getting up. "Fuck.. what is it?"

"I brought you this, thought you might be stuck with nothing to do," Andrea began to mumble and extended the book to him. "Sorry, I didn't realize you had company." Daryl's own face suddenly reddened, clearly not used to this kind of situation as he grabbed the book out of her hands.

"What? No pictures?" He uninterestedly skimmed through it, and fought the urge to toss it to the side. Did she think he was really going to spend his time reading that shit?

Andrea gave a small laugh, but her face changed to more serious, and Daryl knew what was coming. The awkward apology. "I feel like shit," Andrea sighed and settled her eyes on her boots.

"You an' me both," Daryl gestured to the wound on his head, not looking for pity, but hoping the girl would see what a fucking idiot she had been. He knew that Andrea had shot him because she thought he was a walker, which he would have let pass as acceptable. But he didn't know she had been told several times not to fire, until Stef had told him earlier. Was she fucking momentarily deaf? If not, then there was no reason for the shot at him.

"I don't imagine you can forgive me.." Clearly it wasn't Daryl that was looking for the pity. It was Andrea. Daryl was less than intrigued by the conversation and scratched at the back of his head, hoping that Andrea would just leave soon. He wasn't going to stab her in the middle of the night or something as revenge, if that was what she was worried about.

"I get it. Ya only wanted to help. Don' need to explain it." Fucking stupid and stubborn, but Daryl would leave that out for now. Andrea gave him a small nod of thanks, and turned and began to walk away, leaving Daryl with the damn book. "Ya shoot me again.. ya best pray I'm dead." Andrea shot a smile over her shoulder as she headed back towards the RV. "Stupid bitch," Daryl muttered to himself as he re-entered his tent, planning to wake Stef up so he could get some food. He had worked up quite the appetite this afternoon.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC's..**_

* * *

Glenn couldn't keep all this shit to himself any longer. First, Lori was pregnant. And he was one of the only three people who knew about it. Apart from Stef, Glenn had to tell Dale, but only because he was nervous and jumpy, and afraid if he didn't tell someone else he might let something slip to Rick. Then Lori would probably slit his throat with her pregnancy hormones. And now, there were god damn walkers in the barn. What was supposed to be a fantastic night last night hadn't turned out too well for him at all. After Maggie had finally given in and agreed to meet up with him again, he thought the barn would have been the perfect place to get some alone time. Except, when he had gotten there, he had been overpowered by the smell of the undead. And when he listened, he could hear the moans and the groans that had become so easy to recognize. And when he had climbed the ladder, every one had been staring back at him, trying to find a way up to devour him.

Instead of what had been originally planned, Maggie had spent the best part of an hour explaining to Glenn why her father thought it was a good idea to keep the walkers locked up. Hershel thought that they could be healed apparently. If only. He'd cracked with that secret too and had told Dale about it. But he knew that he was putting the camp in danger by not making them all aware of the walkers. What happens if one night they broke free and killed them all while they were asleep. Or if Carl was playing over by the barn and one got a hold of him? He had made the decision. And Maggie was probably going to hate him for the rest of the time they spent here. He needed to tell everyone. So when they were all gathered together to eat, Glenn saw the perfect opportunity.

He could see Maggie standing watching him from the porch, shaking her head. Nervously, he cleared his throat as loud as possible so everyone turned to look at him. He knew he was fidgeting around, but he couldn't seem to keep himself still. A few eyebrows were raised at his silence before his courage finally surfaced. "Uh, guys... There's walkers in the barn." There was no answer for a minute, before all that could be heard were the sounds of people getting up off their chairs and moving.

Everyone immediately rushed to Hershel's barn where they all crowded around the outside. The smell of all the fresh humans was apparently more than the walkers were used to, and they started to hit at the door more violently than Glenn had heard last night, worrying some of the camp members that it might end up breaking down. Shane moved closer so that he could perform an inspection.

"It ain't right," he declared, eventually moving away from where he had been peeking through the small hole in the door. There had to have been around fifty walkers in there, if not more. Had they been there the whole time? Had Hershel been putting everyone in danger by not telling them anything? It was like suicide to hang around this place any longer. The doors didn't look the most secure, and any day now, the walkers could get free. Shane took off his cap and scratched at his head, as he decided it was time to do something about this. This place had to be safe, or they needed to get the hell away from it. "We gotta go in there, clear it out. Make things right. Or we gotta go." Shane was no longer willing to discuss the matter. He was giving the camp the options he seen appropriate or he would leave on his own.

"We can't leave." Of course Rick would be the first one to have a problem with what he had said. It was a regular occurrence these days. Sometimes Shane thought that Rick had found out about him and Lori, and he was using every possible opportunity to get back at him. But he wasn't going to let this one go down so easily. Not when his life was at stake.

"Why not?" Shane pushed, waiting to hear the explanation for this. Surely Rick didn't want this either? What about Lori's safety? Carl's?

"Because my daughter is still out there." It was Carol who answered his question instead of Rick. Shane took a long look at the woman and began to shake his head. His mind was no longer up to processing what was coming out of his mouth. He was done with the stupidity of these people.

"Carol, Carol... I think it's time we all consider the other possibilities, don't you?" Shane had told himself over and over again, if that little girl wasn't back by now, then she was dead. And they would all be joining her soon if he didn't manage to make them see sense. Carol took a step back as if he had hit her with a physical blow, but his mouth couldn't stop, and he felt no regret at all at the minute. Sometimes the truth was hard to hear. "We've been talking about Fort Benning for a while-"

"Shane! We're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick placed a hand on Carol's arm, checking the older woman was alright. "If you go now, then you're on your own. I'll talk to Hershel about the barn. See if we can work something out."

Dale came forward to the front, gesturing a hand towards the barn. "Hershel doesn't see those things as walkers. He sees them as family. I don't think he'll be talked around easily." Dale was in no way agreeing with Shane, but was just warning Rick that the walkers were probably more welcome here than them.

Daryl also stepped forward from where he had been observing. "We're close to finding this girl, I found a damn doll yesterday," he reminded Shane, who only seemed to laugh in his face.

"You found her doll, Daryl. _That's _what you did." Shane was using a tone of voice that made it sound like he was speaking to a child, instead of a grown man. Everyone who didn't have a say in this argument so far watched as Daryl visibly became angrier by the second, all of them remembering the incident that had happened in the quarry when Merle had gone missing. Except everyone was a little more unstable now, and the end result of this could have been much more dangerous. "_You found a doll_."

"You don' know what the hell your talking about!" Daryl growled as he lunged towards Shane. Rick tried holding out an arm to keep him back, but within a matter of seconds a mini riot had broken out between the small group. Fists were being thrown, although it didn't look like anyone was hit, and the men were yelling, with Rick and Glenn trying to calm down the two men at the center of the disagreement. Shane stood back with a smug grin, as Rick pulled Daryl away from him, for the second time since they had met. Maybe one of these days Daryl could actually do him some damage.

When Lori put a hand onto Shane to try and calm him down, he pushed her away, not concerned about what she thought at the minute. Stef, one of the few to know about Lori's condition, checked to make sure she was OK.

Shane decided to try and push it further, enjoying agitating Daryl to no end. "Tell you what.. if she was alive out there and seen you coming all methed-out with your buck-knife and geek ears around your neck, she would have run in the other direction!" What Shane wasn't expecting was the oh so fucking painful kick to the crotch he received from a raging looking Stef standing in front of him. Before he could say anything else, she had walked off, and Daryl followed behind her. "Fucking bitch," he breathed out, trying to man up to the pain.

"We'll talk about this later." And with Rick's last words, everyone dispersed, even more stressed out than they had been this morning. Shane Walsh had finally cracked.

* * *

"You're gonna make a hole in the tent if you keep pacing back and forth like that," Stef observed from where she was sat on Daryl's tent floor. "Sit down." Daryl huffed for another moment before he finally dropped down too, careful not to irritate his wound more than his little disagreement with Walsh already had. The anger behind his eyes was clear, and if it had been a cartoon, there would probably be smoke coming out of his ears at the minute. "I'm going out with T-Dog for a bit, going to look for Sophia." She hoped maybe that would cheer Daryl up a little, letting him know there was people who still thought she was out there somewhere.

"T-Dog?" Daryl asked, not being able to hide the distaste in his voice. Why Stef would want to spend the afternoon with him, Daryl would never know. "'The hell ya' wanna do that for?"

"He's not that bad," Stef swatted at his chest gently as she finished tying the laces on her boots. "Better than Shane." She noticed Daryl clench his fists from beside her, and didn't say anything else about the cop. He had pushed every one of Daryl's buttons earlier, and it wasn't going to help by irritating him further.

"That was a pretty nice hit," Daryl smirked and Stef couldn't help but smile back a little. Shane couldn't get away with talking to people like that. Plus it was silent payback for her, for what he had done at the farmhouse.

"He deserved it," Stef said seriously. "I should go."

"Be careful out there." Daryl wasn't going to lose what was possibly the best thing that had happened to him so far. Maybe the world ending did have it's benefits after all.

* * *

"So when do we get the wedding invites then?" T-Dog smirked at her, hanging up another ribbon onto a tree, indicating that they had searched the area.

"Huh?" Stef pretended she didn't know what he was talking about, and continued to scan the surroundings, looking for any signs of the little girl.

"You know what I mean," T-Dog chuckled. "You and Dixon."

Stef had to stop herself from thinking about earlier that afternoon, which would cause her mind to become far too distracted. Daryl's warm body pressed against her, his rough hands working their way over her skin... "Not for a while yet," Stef replied, shaking her head at the man. Even the women hadn't tried to get this much gossip out of her yet.

"Hell, everyone's hookin' up. You two, Glenn and the farmer's daughter. Starting to think I'm going to be left with Dale."

Stef couldn't hold back her laughter at the thought and screwed her face up at the image. "Please... don't," she managed to get out between the laughter. "I don't think that's an image that I ever want in my head again."

The bushes made a rustling noise, and the duo got ready to get rid of another walker. The happy expressions had been replaced with serious, focused ones. One should be easy enough to get rid of between the two of them. Stef slid her knife out of the sheath on her trousers, and outstretched it in front of her. T-Dog drew his gun, and aimed where the noise was coming from.

There was no further movement for a few moments, which was strange, because if a walker was lurking in the bushes, and had smelled them, then surely it would have made a move by now. T-Dog exchanged a glance with Stef as they both slowly walked closer to where the sound had came from. They were both aware that just about anything could jump out.

"Sophia?" Stef called quietly, her heart starting to beat faster with hope that the little girl might emerge from the bushes unharmed. Something stirred again at her voice. A small figure started to come out from the bushes, and stumbled slightly, making Stef's breath catch in her throat.

Her eyes immediately welled up with tears, when she realized it wasn't Sophia. The little girl that appeared couldn't have been any older than six or seven, and her face was masked with dirt. Her hair should have been blonde, but it had been matted with blood and various other things from the forest floor. But she was alive.

After the initial disappointment and shock, Stef crouched down as the girl looked at them warily. "It's OK, sweetheart, we won't hurt you."

"What're you doing?" T-Dog hissed in a whisper from behind her. "This might be dangerous."

"Does she look dangerous to you?" Stef muttered back, turning her attention back to the little girl just staring at them. Her eyes were wide and focused on the gun that T-Dog was holding onto. When Stef noticed, she stood upright, and inhaled a sharp breath, before settling her hands on top of T-Dog's gun, and lowering it. "We need to help her." Was this little girl alone out here? Apparently not.

"Jessie, thank God!" An unfamiliar voice came from the side, and they both spun round to see a strange man running towards them. Or rather running towards the little girl. It was only when he was a few steps away that he followed her gaze and noticed Stef and T-Dog. His expression turned dark, and he reached for his belt, pulling out a large hunting knife. He pushed the little girl behind him, and reached out an arm to protect her. Before Stef could stop him, T-Dog had raised his arm again, and was pointing his gun at the stranger. The man backed up a few steps, and he dropped the knife to the ground.

"Whoa! Please man, don't shoot." His eyes had gone wide, and he was staring fearfully at the gun he was being threatened with. His knife wasn't looking so good now.

"You bit?" T-Dog demanded, pacing back and forth with his gun still raised.

"No, no, I can show you!" The strange man had now picked up and put his knife out of sight and raised his hands in a surrendering manner. The little girl beside him was clutching on to his trouser leg for dear life. The man looked to be in his late 20's or early 30's. His clothes were dirty and ripped, and he was carrying a rucksack on his back along with a smaller bag, but the most distinguishable feature was that he spoke with a British Accent.

T-Dog shook his head, and finally lowered his gun, although he kept it in his hands, making it easy he could still fire a shot if need be. "A'ight. C'mon Stef, let's get moving." It would start to get dark soon if they didn't make some more progress.

Before Stef could say anything, T-Dog gently tugged on her arm, getting her to follow him off. The man behind them hesitated for a few seconds before starting to follow.

"Wait!" The man put at hand on Stef's shoulder when he caught up, making her spin around and feel for her knife. "You guys are the first survivors we've seen in months."

"Great,' T-Dog muttered, and turned away again. These people couldn't follow them back to the farm. That was the last thing they needed right now. "And we'll be the last if you don't keep away."

"You guys are alone?" Stef asked quietly, and the man nodded his head, protectively putting an arm around the little girl's shoulders. "Where is your camp?"

"We don't have one," the man answered sadly. "We've been on the road pretty much since this whole thing started."

"T-Dog," Stef hissed quietly, and pulled the larger man to the side, much to his annoyance. "What if they need help? Food? Shelter? Look at the little girl, for God's sakes!" T-Dog's eyes scanned over the strange pair and he shook his head. Stef was too kind, and would take these people in without thinking. But T-Dog knew things weren't always as they looked.

"We don't know these people, Stef. We can't just turn up to camp with them." T-Dog tried to reason with her. This man could have been a murderer, rapist or anything. And just because he had a little girl with him, it didn't make it any less dangerous. "You seen Shane earlier, you think he'd be pleased about that?"

"Well let's not take them to Shane. Let's bring him here. Or Rick might be a better choice." Stef narrowed her eyebrows, trying to think where she was going with this. "Then he can decide what happens. You go back to camp and get him, and I'll stay here. You would be better at protecting yourself," Stef nodded to the gun in his hands. Although they hadn't seen hardly any walkers so far on their journey, T-Dog could take one down much quicker.

"Absolutely not." T-Dog shook his head, and his mouth firmed into a line. "Dixon would have my head on a plate."

Stef rubbed frustratedly at her face. She knew he was right, and she didn't want to get T-Dog into trouble with anyone. But she couldn't walk away from this. The little girl. The thin, dirty and exhausted looking little girl wouldn't let her. Because she was still being eaten by guilt from the last little girl that she had failed. Sophia was still out there somewhere, and Stef still blamed herself. She wouldn't go through it again, knowing she could have helped. "Please, T-Dog. If I can't help Sophia, then I need to do something." She wasn't sure how Carol would react, them bringing back a child that didn't belong to her.

T-Dog let out a long, tired sigh. Nobody in camp would be happy if he went ahead with this. But the woman in front of him was adamant that she wanted to help these people. If Glenn hadn't came into his life and taken him away from Atlanta, he would have been dead by now. Glenn was a stranger once. Stef was a stranger once. And they had never done him any harm. So he tried his best to push all negative thoughts to the back of his head and let out a shaky breath. Rick or Shane could decide what happened the pair, he just needed to get to them first. They were only about a ten minute walk away from camp, but as he reluctantly turned away and made his way to fetch the others, one thing kept running through his mind.

Ten minutes was enough time for Stef to be killed.

* * *

Daryl was fed up of doing nothing. Rick was planning to go out later, and look. Stef and T-Dog had already taken off. He felt useless. And so, he had found that his feet had been taking him over towards Hershel's stable. To where the horses were kept. He could take a horse, scan the area, keep away from the damn ridge. One thing was for sure, he wouldn't be taking Nelly out again. He wasn't going to make that mistake twice. On his way over, he had heard footsteps behind him. Soft, and hesitant. Carol.

Her voice was quiet coming from behind him. "You can't."

Daryl picked up a saddle off the ground and tried not to reach for his side when he felt a pain shoot through him. "I'm fine," he lied, hoping it would pass, as he turned his attention back to the horses.

"Hershel said you need to heal," Carol argued, coming to a stop behind him, but keeping a small distance.

"Don' care," Daryl remarked, as he began to saddle up one of the other horses that hopefully wouldn't try and kill him. Hershel said a lot of stupid things anyway, like those things in the barn could be cured and become human again.

"I do. We all do," Carol replied gently, trying to make the man see sense. Opening his wound again might mean he would bleed out somewhere, and they'd have no way of knowing. He wasn't even planning to take anyone with him.

"Ain't gonna sit an' do nothin'."

"No, you're going to get yourself hurt even worse." He heard Carol sigh behind him before she sniffled quietly. "We don't know if we're going to find her." Carol went quiet for a minute and Daryl froze in what he was doing. "We don't. I don't." His thoughts had been confirmed.

"What?" He asked, through gritted teeth. It was more a way of giving Carol a chance to change whatever she had just said.

"Can't lose you too." Carol's last words were enough to make Daryl see red. He was still fuming from what had happened at the barn this morning, and this had made something inside of him snap.

"Leave me be!" Daryl used all the strength he had left to heave the saddle onto the concrete ground and take out his rage on something that wasn't living. What was the point in everything they had done if Carol didn't even think her daughter was alive anymore? He'd nearly died looking for her. Stef, _his girl_, was out there right now looking for her, along with numerous walking corpses. And she didn't even have the decency to be grateful to them? Daryl took one last look at Carol's tear stained face as he turned and stalked off out of the stable. "Stupid bitch."

* * *

Glenn was back on a horse again, much more wary this time after what had happened to Daryl. Maggie was riding beside him, but she had been sulking silently ever since they had left. He knew he had betrayed her trust but she didn't understand he was only trying to keep his group safe. His family. Because when they eventually left here, he wasn't going to have Maggie. He was only going to have them.

"Please say something," Glenn asked quietly, hoping that she didn't completely hate him now. Maggie remained silent for a long moment, and Glenn was about to give up trying. He would just get Lori's stuff and-

"I asked for your trust and you betrayed me." Maggie's voice was bitter and she kept her eyes on the road ahead as she spoke. "And now dad's pissed at me." Hershel hadn't spoken to her barely since he had found out Glenn knew their secret. It wasn't her fault. If he hadn't been so stupid to keep them in there in the first place they wouldn't have this problem. But a part of Maggie was glad they were still there. Her mother, her step brother. They didn't have any of the qualities they used to possess, but they were there. Unfortunately, she knew how dangerous they could be too. She was torn. "Your turn."

"Your dad thinks they're sick?" Glenn asked, although he already knew the answer. "Do you agree? What about what you saw at the well?"

"I'm not sure what I saw at that well." Surely there was no way that thing could have ever been cured. The bloated walker, who had basically broken apart right in front of them.

"Yes you are!" Glenn dismounted the horse and tried to put a hand on Maggie's shoulder in comfort. "If you had been in Atlanta, and seen the walkers-"

"Will you stop calling them that?!" Maggie threw her hands up in frustration as Glenn's face turned to shock. "That's not what they are. Mom, Shawn, Mr and Mrs Fisher, Lacey, Duncan.." Maggie began to list off the names of some of the people she knew that were in that barn. People she had loved. Glenn didn't say anything more on the matter as they entered the pharmacy. He pulled out the list and unfolded it, trying to remember the name written on it. "What's she want now?" Maggie asked, not being able to hide the irritation that Lori couldn't come and fetch her own items.

"Can't say," Glenn swallowed nervously. _Something to get rid of her baby_. Maggie looked at him with a disbelieving look on her face.

"So one of them asks you to keep your mouth shut and-"

"Help me look," Glenn interrupted, handing the piece of paper over to Maggie. He was fed-up of everything that had happened so far today, and just wanted back to the camp for some peace and quiet. Maybe now he had shared his secret too, Maggie wouldn't be so pissed at him. "Please."

Maggie took one look at the paper, and seemed to automatically know what she had to go and look for. She crumpled it up in her hands then threw it to the ground, muttering as she walked away. "You have got to be kiddin' me. Do you know what those are?!" Glenn's face reddened at the question, and he nodded his head.

"Yeah, Stef told me." Glenn didn't entirely support Lori's decision, but he also knew how much trouble they would have trying to raise a baby. He would make sure to pick up some vitamins or something while they were here too, just incase Lori decided to change her mind.

"Wait, they're for Stef?" Now Maggie was just entirely confused. Which one of them had been irresponsible enough for this kind of thing to happen?

"No.. Lori asked Stef to ask me to..." Glenn let out a long sigh, only further enhancing his headache with his own words. "Forget it."

"Whatever," Maggie shook her head as she began rifling her way through all the bottles on the pharmacy shelf. It was never something she had needed before so she wasn't one hundred percent where she should have been looking. She pocketed the occasional other bottle that looked like it could be of use here and there.

Before long, half the shelf was empty. The next time she reached out however, something reached back at her.

Before she could stop it, she already registered that a scream had left her mouth, as a dirty, bloody hand wrapped itself around her wrist. She began to pull, trying to get away, but the walker seemed to have a death grip on her. As she moved, her arm banged off the shelf a few times, and she felt the impact more with every hit. The walker was biting it's teeth together, hoping to catch some part of her flesh in-between them. The noise was sickening, and Maggie could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she stared death in the face, literally. Time seemed to slow down, but the next thing her mind picked up was Glenn, coming in from the side.

He had what looked to be a part of a shelf in his hand, and he took a swing with it, hitting the walker perfectly across the back of the head. It loosened it's grip on Maggie then and fell to the floor. Glenn however, was nowhere near done with it. He began to smash it's head with the shelf weapon, causing Maggie to cover her hands with her mouth. She had never been this close before. Nothing like that had ever happened before. Any closer and she could have been dead this very minute.

Once Glenn had made sure the walker was well and truly dead, once and for all, he dropped the bloody weapon to the ground, and took a now sobbing Maggie into his arms.

And for the first time, Maggie thought what he did might have been for the best. Those things in the barn weren't safe. Not people. They had to go.

* * *

Rick had made the decision finally. It appeared that he had taken over the duties of camp leader fully these days. Of course, they both thought T-Dog and Stef had been crazy to do what they did, but they were both still in one piece which was the main thing. Rick had initially been on T-Dog's side, and refused to believe it would do any good bringing strangers into the camp. But when he had seen the little girl, and how awful she looked, whatever had overcome Stef seemed to have hit him too. After all, he was there the day in the forest when they had lost Sophia too. Plus, being a parent gave him a softer side when it came to children. And so, with some negotiation, it had been decided. The two would need to be blindfolded coming into camp, even the little girl, much to Stef's annoyance. That way, if they had a group they weren't telling Rick about, they couldn't expose the location of the farm. However, it seemed unlikely as the man had been carrying a couple of bags, with what was apparently all the stuff that they owned. He would need to be stripped of his weapons for a bit, and kept under watch for a couple of days, but hopefully something good would come out of it.

Hershel would hopefully perform a medical examination on them both, especially the little girl. And although it meant more mouths to feed too, in some situations the larger the group, the better. The man had been identified as Nathan, and the little girl was Jessica. When Stef had been left alone, Nathan had told her how he was over visiting his sister from England. Unfortunately he had picked the worst possible time when the outbreak began, and his sister had been killed, leaving him with his niece. Which was kind of bad luck for him, as he had no idea about his way around Atlanta or anywhere in the United States. That was mostly why they had been on the road, instead of finding a place to stay, because he had no idea where might be safe and where might not.

Everyone in camp looked up curious, when the group came back. Curious.. and furious. Daryl was sat on one of the chairs around the campfire, and as soon as he seen the others come back, got up immediately, nearly sending the chair toppling over. Before Stef could even relax at being back, Daryl had his fingers around her wrist and was pulling her off, away from the rest of the camp members.

"Young love," T-Dog muttered as they disappeared out of view, knowing he would probably be the next one to experience the wrath of Daryl.

Daryl pushed her towards his tent, and shoved her in. Not so hard that it would injure her, but not as gentle as he was around her normally. The first thing she noticed when she got inside the tent was the additions to the interior. Her own bag of belongings was sitting in the corner next to his stuff, and her sleeping bag was rolled out on the floor. Not directly beside Daryl's but not far off either. Before she could question anything, he had turned to face her, his eyes blazing.

"The fuck Stef?!" Daryl spat angrily, running a hand through his rapidly growing hair. He was pacing around again, much more angrily than he had done this morning. "What was that? Ya could've been killed!"

"But I wasn't." Stef remarked, her tone even. She'd already had this lecture from Shane when he had first arrived on the scene, although he was more than likely taking his anger from earlier out onto her, followed by Rick on the way back. She knew it wasn't the smartest idea in the world, but she had been fine. She was slightly offended by the men thinking she wasn't capable of looking after herself.

"Fuck, that ain't tha point!" Daryl kicked at his rucksack on the floor, sending the contents spilling out over the tent. He noticed her flinch at the movement from the corner of his eye, and used all his willpower, urging himself to calm down. "Ya can't do that! Ya can't make someone care about ya then do stupid fucking things like that." He was still wound up from his earlier conversation with Carol, and took three deep breaths before moving to stand in front of Stef.

Her heart had fluttered at the words, not expecting Daryl to admit something like that. She didn't have a reply, simply stared at him as he continued to inhale and exhale deeply.

"I tol' myself I wouldn't let anythin' happen to ya, and you're gonna make it hard for me pullin' off that kinda shit." Daryl's voice had lost all of it's power, and had gone back to the shyness it had carried before. He nodded his head in the direction of her stuff, answering her unasked question. "Didn't want ya sleepin' alone, with them things in the barn."

Once again, without the words, Stef moved forward and wrapped her arms around his back, pulling him closer and burying her face into his shoulder. She felt him resist at first and try to pull away, but she didn't loosen her grip. Eventually, with a sigh, Daryl gave in and wrapped his own arms around her. He was going to have a hard time staying mad with her if something as simple as a hug seemed to soften him up. He placed a kiss on top of her head, before moving so he could whisper in her ear. "No more stupid ideas."

Stef broke away when she heard her name being called softly from outside. Lori's voice. Continuing her silence, she turned to walk out of the tent, giving Daryl a last look and a half hearted smile as she went. Lori was standing outside of the tent, clutching on to a white paper bag, that she recognized as being a pharmacy bag. This damn day kept getting better. Because she knew what was in that bag. Lori's Morning After Pills. Stef wished for nothing more than to go to sleep for a long time, and wake up again when everyone was happy and stress free.

The older woman twisted the packaging in her hands. Rick was currently distracted with the new arrivals, and now seemed like the best time to get this over with. But she still wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to. "I need your help again."

* * *

**And so there it is! And yes, we have two new OC's. Sometimes I felt I was sticking too close to the plot and might bore you all, so I needed to add in some extra people to play with ;) In my head, Nathan looks like the actor Barry Sloane, but I don't have anyone for Jessica, so you can use your imagination :) Hope you all liked the chapter.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Just a shorter chapter, wanted to get the day we are on over with so we could move on to the next set of events!**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC's.**_

* * *

"You really don't have to do this," Stef sat down on one of the chairs that had been set up in the Grimes' tent as Lori stared at the packaging on the table. Stef wasn't the first person today to tell her that. As well as the Morning After Pills, Glenn had brought back some prenatal vitamins. Obviously he thought they had other options too. And if that wasn't bad enough, Maggie had nearly been killed thanks to Lori's orders. The older woman was feeling bad about everything, not to mention that she still hadn't said anything about this to Rick.

"I do." Lori took a deep breath as she emptied the pills onto the table and stared at them for a moment. "It's for the best." She felt the need to speak her thoughts, otherwise she might not have believed them herself. Her fingers hovered for a minute, before she took a handful of pills and swallowed each one.

Stef watched with a sigh as Lori suddenly dropped the packaging to the table, having taken at least half of the pills. She still wasn't even sure that they would work. Maybe Lori was too late in taking them.

Suddenly, a thought hit her hard, making her stomach flip.

Her and Daryl hadn't used anything earlier.

They had been so in the moment that all rational thought had just disappeared. Yes, Daryl was starting to open up a bit more, but she doubted he'd want a toddler running around his feet.

She had mentally cursed Lori for being stupid so many times since she had found out that she was pregnant, and she had gone and done the same damn thing. Her thoughts were interrupted when Lori stood abruptly and began to run out of the tent.

Stef made a mental note to come back and take one of the pills Lori had left, before she ran after her. She followed Lori over to one of the trees some distance away from Hershel's farm. Lori began to stick her fingers down her throat, obviously trying to make herself sick. Something had changed her mind then. It took a minute, but Lori ended up emptying the contents of her stomach onto the ground, along with the pills that she had just taken.

It looked like they were going to have a new addition to the group after all. Stef rubbed Lori's back gently, waiting until she had gotten the last of it out before standing upright.

"I'll go get you some water or something," Stef mumbled, turning away from the scene and walking back towards the Grimes' tent. She froze in the entrance however, when she seen Rick standing, staring down at something in his hand. The Morning After Pills. Her mouth went dry, and she remembered that Rick didn't know anything about this. Nor was he supposed to find out. Especially not this way. She took a wary step forward, as Rick spun around, an unreadable expression on his face.

"They're mine," Stef lied quietly, walking closer to gently pry the packaging out of his hands, and put them in her back pocket. Now that Lori had apparently decided to keep her baby, she was going to have to tell Rick at some point. But that didn't mean he needed to know how close she had been to getting rid of it. "Lori was only-"

"No." Another voice meant someone else had joined them in the tent. Lori was standing behind the pair, looking pale and tired. "It's time that Rick and I talked. You've done enough for me Stef." Lori gave her a small nod of thanks, and Stef took that as her sign to get out of there. Still with the pills in her back pocket, she left the two alone, giving Lori a weak smile as she did so.

Someone was going to be in a lot of hot water.

* * *

Rick followed Lori away from the farm, and out onto the road that led into the Greene's place. It was peaceful, allowing them plenty of time to talk.

"Something you need to tell me?" Rick asked, his brain already having come up with a million different questions.

"We can't leave." Lori looked up at him and inhaled a long breath. "I'm pregnant." _There it was._

"Are you?" Rick snapped quickly, shocking Lori, her not expecting that to be his first reaction. She then remembered that he had found the packaging of the pills Stef had tried to take the blame for.

"Threw 'em up," Lori bit down on her lip, as Rick stared out into the fields in front of him. His silence made her even more nervous than if he was to start shouting at her. "Yell if you want. Scream if you have to. Please.." Lori begged, trying to get him to let her explain herself. "Talk to me."

"How long have you known?" Rick asked, his voice cold, and his eyes unable to meet his wife's.

"Does it matter?"

"Days? Weeks? You didn't tell me?" Rick raised the volume of his voice. That was what had bothered him the most. If she had just talked to him.. he might have understood. They could have worked shit out together. "Found those pills. So Glenn knows?" Rick knew that he was the only one from their group to have gone to the pharmacy recently. "Stef too?"

Lori let out a shaky breath, feeling the tears start to well up in her eyes. "You tell me we're going to have no roof over our heads and-"

"No!" Rick cut her off, his arms waving in front of him, signaling his frustration. "Do not put this on me!" Rick would never have forced her into making a decision on whether she kept a baby or not. It was her choice, and if she had talked to him quicker, she would have known that.

"You want to bring a baby into this world, to live a short cruel life?" Lori asked, the first tear rolling down her cheek. It was hard enough for independent, grown adults to survive, never mind a defenseless child. "We can hardly protect the son we've already got!" Carl being shot was one of the worst moments of Lori's life, and if that happened to someone else that she cared about the result might not be in their favor the next time. Rick didn't answer her, and she hung her head. "I threw them up. I screwed up. I don't know how we can do this."

"We can make it work." Rick stated, so well in fact, that Lori might have believed it for a split second.

"How? Tell me."

"You threw them up," Rick reminded her once again. "You want this baby."

"I'm not giving birth in a ditch." How on earth would they even do it anyway? They didn't have a proper doctor, the proper medical supplies.. "And think about it Rick! Every cry.. putting Carl, everyone we care about in danger," It would be like a dinner bell for the walkers. "It's not right."

"Not giving it a chance isn't right. I don't understand why you think I'd make you have a baby you don't want though." It hurt Rick more than he cared to admit. "I can't live like this anymore Lori. We can't live like this."

Too many fucking secrets. They were going to destroy the group eventually.

"Is there anything else I should know about?" Rick regretted the question almost immediately when he seen Lori's face darken. There was a long pause before she actually spoke.

"Shane and I."

This day just got better and better. His brain took in the new information slowly and he took a deep breath as he began to pace around. "I know." He had brief thoughts here and there, but didn't ever want to actually think it was true. "Of course I know. You thought I was dead. World went to shit and you thought I was dead... right?"

He was going to need to take a long walk after this to clear his head. Lori looked up to meet his eyes, and answered his question, although it wasn't most convincing. "Yeah."

* * *

Night had fallen quickly and the camp had grown quiet. Stef was ready for bed as she made her way across the campsite, only stopping when she noticed Carl out of the corner of her eye, sitting on a log they had been using as a method of seating beside the slowly dying campfire. She had seen him go into his tent earlier, so something must have woken him up again.

"You OK?" Stef asked, sitting down opposite the young boy. "You're up late."

"Can't sleep," Carl mumbled, looking down at his hands. He seemed as if he wanted to say something more, but remained silent.

"Where's your mom and dad?" Stef asked, not having seen any one of the pair since she had left their tent earlier.

"Don't know," Carl shrugged. Stef smiled sadly at him as he let out a long sigh. She knew he was relatively safe enough being in the camp area, but it still wasn't right to leave him in the tent alone.

"Want to play a game or something?" Stef suggested, but Carl simply shook his head. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, Stef chewing on her bottom lip, before she thought about leaving for her tent. Daryl's tent. Their tent? "I'm going to go to bed now, but you know where I am if you need anything."

She ruffled Carl's hair as she began to move past him, but his quiet voice stopped her. "Had a nightmare." She turned back around and sat down beside him on the log.

"Want to talk about it?" Stef wasn't entirely experienced when it came to dealing with children's problems. Usually you could take them and show them under the bed, proving that there were no monsters there. But now, there were monsters.

Almost everywhere.

Carl shook his head again, as his cheeks turned red. He felt embarrassed to be having nightmares now, thinking that he had grown past that stage. Only a couple of hours ago, he had been learning to fire a gun, and now he was too scared to go back to sleep?

Stef sat deep in thought for a minute, before getting up and walking over to where they kept some of the camp supplies in the RV. She picked up a piece of paper and a pen that they had been using when the children were being educated back at the quarry and went back to sit beside Carl, handing him the items she had just collected.

"I used to have bad dreams too, y'know. About my dad." Carl looked up at her, remembering how she had told him stories of how she had felt when her dad died. "Mom used to tell me to draw what I had seen. And then we could get rid of it."

Carl huffed for a minute, and looked away, thinking that the idea was stupid. But not wanting to have to go back to the tent, he reluctantly began to draw what he could recall from his dream on the paper.

_Sophia._

_Walkers._

_Dead Sophia._

When he was finished, he stared at his creation for a moment.

"You don't need to show me if you don't want to," Stef assured, giving him a small pat on the back. Carl shrugged as he handed it to her, and Stef assumed that meant he didn't care if she looked or not. She took a quick glance down at the paper, and her breath caught in her throat.

What she seen was truly heartbreaking. Carl had seen his friend, dead.

She took the paper, and folded it up, before leaning forward and trying to catch it alight from the small flame left burning on the campfire. It took a moment, but a small orange flame finally began to burn up the piece of paper, turning it to ash in Stef's hands. Carl stared at the nightmare burning away before him.

"You think she's still alive?" Carl asked quietly, beginning to chew on his small thumb nail.

Stef let out a long sigh. "Honestly, I don't know, sweetheart." Stef looked around, checking no one was within hearing distance. If Daryl had heard her say that then he probably wouldn't be speaking to her for a long while. She had tried so long to keep believing Sophia was out there somewhere, but today had really taken it out of everyone. "But look at your dad, he came back alright, didn't he?"

Carl smiled for the first time since she had seen him tonight. "Yeah. He did."

The conversation died down for a bit before Carl changed the subject completely. "Do you think Beth's pretty?"

Taken aback by the question, Stef raised her eyebrows slightly before a small smile spread across her face. "I'd say she is." Stef tried to picture the younger Greene girl in her head, not really having seen or spoken to her much since she had gotten here. Maggie was the only one she had conversated properly with. "Why do you ask?"

"I think she is," Carl admitted shyly, his cheeks once again heating up. He wasn't sure why he was telling her this. It wasn't something that he would talk to his mom about. Or any other woman in the camp. But Stef always listened to him, and didn't treat him like a baby. "When I was shot, she brought me stuff for when I woke up. Magazines and games and stuff." Carl smiled at the memory. "You think she likes me?"

Stef gave a small laugh at Carl's hopeful tone. She knew that Jimmy was Beth's boyfriend, and even if he wasn't, she had to be at least four or five years older than Carl. Then again, she wasn't even sure how much older Daryl was than her. If you found yourself attracted to someone, that was it. Didn't matter about the age. "Maybe," Stef smiled softly, glad that Carl had brightened up. "You should head back to your tent. Everybody is going to sleep now."

Carl's smile vanished and was replaced with a small pout instead, which Stef noticed immediately. "Why don't I come with you for a bit, and you can tell me some stories?" Stef suggested, standing up and offering a hand to Carl. He shrugged his shoulders again, before giving a slight nod, and the two of them headed back towards the Grimes' tent.

* * *

"What were you two even doing out there?" Nathan asked, from where he was sitting on top of the RV. Shane had tried to insist he be kept handcuffed somewhere, but Rick didn't see him as so much of a threat anymore. Instead, he had been put with whoever was on watch at the time, which at the minute happened to be T-Dog and Glenn. "Don't see why you would want to leave here when you have such a great set up."

"Looking for someone," T-Dog answered briefly, not wanting to give away too much information to the man he still didn't completely trust. The younger girl, Jessica, had been given the spare room in Hershel's house that had previously been occupied by Carl and Daryl when injured. She had been reluctant to leave her uncle at first, but he eventually managed to convince her it was alright.

"I'm sorry we got you in bother," Nathan nodded his head over towards where Daryl's tent was situated in the distance. He had wondered where Stef, the girl who had gotten them here, had disappeared to when his blindfold had first came off. But then he had seen her being pulled into a tent, an angry looking man's hand wrapped around her wrist.

"It's only cause he cares," T-Dog shrugged, still not being able to fully understand the words coming out of his mouth. One month ago, he would never have pictured Daryl Dixon caring about anything that wasn't himself or his brother. Glenn nodded, also still not fully believing the unlikely pairing.

"How long have you all known each other?" Nathan wondered, observing in the small amount of time he had been here and been un-blindfolded how alike these people were to a family.

Glenn hesitated for a moment, thinking if he should say anything or not, before he finally gave in, realizing this man was to become a part of their group. "Couple of months or so. Though we only met the people who own this farm about a week ago."

"So you're not from around here?"

"No, most of us came from the Atlanta area." Glenn answered, pondering how far away they actually were now from the city. "We stayed at a quarry for a bit. That was overrun by walkers. Then we went to the CDC..." Glenn paused when he remembered all that was left of that place. He also noticed T-Dog's face drop slightly, the pain of losing Jacqui, a good friend to him, coming back. "Things didn't go too well there." Nathan raised an eyebrow but didn't question it further. "And then we were on our way to Fort Benning when we lost Sophia-" Glenn stopped abruptly, cursing silently when he realized what he had said. He couldn't keep his damn mouth shut these days.

"Sophia?" Nathan asked, curious.

T-Dog nodded his head grimly, figuring if Nathan was going to be staying, he would probably be roped into helping with the search. He was going to have to find out sometime. "It was a little girl we lost. We don't know if she's still out there or not."

Nathan seemed to take a minute to process the information. "How did you lose her?"

"Walkers," Glenn answered, replaying the scene in his head. "A herd-" he paused, wondering if Nathan had used the same terminology as them for the last couple of months. "Large group of walkers. They passed us by on the highway, one of them spotted Sophia, and she ran."

"We haven't seen her again since then," T-Dog finished, hoping they were quiet enough Carol wouldn't hear them in the RV below.

Nathan sat in thought for a minute before he spoke up again. "In the forest, when I said you two were the first survivors we had seen..."

T-Dog looked at the man, panicking that had been a cover story, and that Nathan was about to reveal where he was actually from. What group of murderers or rapists or..

"I'm not entirely sure that was true." Nathan exhaled a breath as T-Dog and Glenn shared a worried glance. Nathan seemed to pick up on it, and quickly shook his head. "I don't mean anything bad, I thought I was telling the truth. Only yesterday, when Jessie and I were looking for a place to stay for the night, I thought I seen something... different. Smaller than the usual walker."

"How do you mean?" Glenn asked, unsure where this was going.

"Like a child. I know kids can be walkers too, but like I said, this one was different. And I thought for a minute, it might be someone alive." Instead of looking worried, both Glenn and T-Dog's faces were now covered with something else. Wonder, intrigue... hope? "I tried to find them again, but they had vanished. And I never thought anything else about it again. Until now."

"Do you remember where this was?" Glenn asked, the pitch of his voice noticeably having raised.

"Yeah, I think so." Nathan gave a quick nod of his head as he looked out into the dark forest. "Tomorrow. I can show you."

* * *

Daryl hadn't been sleeping properly by the time that Stef came back to the tent. He had gotten into his sleeping bag about half an hour before, and knew it was quite late then, so it must have been even further on now. He was jolted awake by even the slightest of sound, on high alert now that the presence of walkers in the barn had been discovered. Her soft footsteps had him once again wide awake and staring at the ceiling of the tent, only barely illuminated by the moonlight glow. The sooner tomorrow came, the better. It had been a long day for everyone.

He listened to Stef fumble around, as quietly as she could, getting changed into her sleeping clothes, and trying to sneak into her sleeping bag. Lori had came back about twenty minutes or so after Carl had been settled down in his tent again. She had told Stef quietly how things had gone with Rick, and how both of them had cleared off for some space after their talk.

Daryl didn't know why, or where it had come from, but he had the sudden urge to be beside her. He never was a cuddler. And apart from last night, he had never slept next to anyone. Unless you counted the time when he was around 7 years old. He had heard a strange noise in his room, and being so little he was terrified, thinking it was a monster under the bed. He would only have gotten abuse if he had gone to his mother or father, so he had given Merle the rest of his pocket money he had gathered up, if Merle would stay in his room with him for the night. But he couldn't deny that he had been comfortable in the sleeping bag with Stef earlier, before Andrea had barged in. So much so, maybe he would have lay on if not for the interruption.

He pushed the thoughts out of his mind, and curled himself up even more, bringing his knees up relatively close to his chest. His side still hurt like hell, and he had to focus on his breathing so it didn't pain him too much.

But as the night got on, he continued to get more and more restless, never being able to fall asleep for more than twenty minutes at a time. Stef was clearly having the same trouble as he could her her fidget around every now and again, which was usually followed by a long sigh. He found himself wondering why he was still scared, because that was the only word he could think of to describe it, to get close to her.

They were as together as together could be these days, and when he had been setting down her sleeping bag earlier, he still felt he had to sleep in his own space. But although his brain was protesting, some tiny, tiny part of his heart was telling him he wanted her next to him. That he didn't need to be alone anymore. Blowing out a long breath, he began to climb out of his own sleeping bag, and unzipped her's enough, just so that he could slip into it. She automatically knew it was him, as she had heard his every movement.

Stef shifted herself around so that she was face to face with Daryl. His features were just barely visible in the dim light. It was still relatively easy to make out the wound from where Andrea's bullet had grazed his head. Her fingers reached up to trace their way around the painful area. He flinched at first before his breathing evened out and he felt relaxed enough. Even in the dark she could tell that he was studying her carefully with his eyes, not used to the touch.

His index and middle finger tilted her chin upwards and he covered her mouth with his own. It didn't take long before he finished with the simple kiss and he slipped his tongue into her mouth. It was a slow, but passionate, kiss. Eventually, It was Stef who broke away first, seeking a breath of air. Although their bodies seemed to be against sleeping, they were both too tired to take the kiss any further. Instead, Stef relaxed listening to the sounds of Daryl's breathing.

Daryl tested out wrapping an arm around her waist. He didn't know what was going to hurt her, and what was going to be uncomfortable for him and so on. It was all so new to him. Sensing that he was slightly lost, Stef snuggled closer to him, and buried her head into his shoulder. They didn't have a large amount of free space in the sleeping bag for moving, and Stef still wasn't feeling remotely close to sleeping, but for the first time since the apocalypse started, she felt safe.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC's.**_

* * *

More Cherokee Roses. They were every fucking place that he looked, almost taunting him with the fact he still hadn't found Sophia. Or Merle. He would have ripped them right out, if he hadn't thought this would be the best way to try and apologize to Carol. A whole night of no sleep, tossing and turning had his brain working overtime, and he had began to feel bad for how he had spoken to her yesterday. So he had sought her out first thing in the morning and brought her to the small pond, not too far away from Hershel's farm.

Carol sniffled as she looked down at the roses, and reached a hand out to touch them gently. "I shouldn't have said what I did yesterday," she began, feeling like she had some apologizing of her own to do. "I know she's out there somewhere, and we'll find her."

"Yeah." Daryl only mumbled and nodded his head, while studying Carol carefully. Even if they found her dead, it would give them all some closure. And they could finally move on.

"I'm going out looking today," Carol stated, pulling off one of the roses, and putting it in her pocket. "Glenn and T-Dog might have a lead, so I asked if I could go with them."

"Ya think that's a smart idea?" Daryl didn't mean for his words to sound so snappy, but Carol wasn't exactly a professional at defending herself yet, not to mention it may only have been building her hopes up for nothing. The men should have checked it out first before they asked Carol along.

"I don't know," Carol answered sadly, shaking her head. "But I have to try. Sophia is all I have." Carol knew the group had become like a family, but she felt left out. Everyone had formed smaller groups of friends within, or partnered up with each other. And in the space of a month she had lost her husband and her daughter, and didn't feel that kind of connection with anyone else.

"Hey, I'm sorry about what happened yesterday," Daryl spoke quieter and gentler this time.

Carol gave a small smile in return. Daryl could be sweet when he wanted to be. "You wanted to look for her." She stated, shrugging her shoulders. Maybe she should have let him go afterall. Now he probably thought she didn't want her daughter found. But she wondered why Daryl was so persistent. Even with injuries, he was willing to head out. "Why? This whole time i just wanted to ask you, why?"

Daryl had to think about it for a second. He honestly wasn't sure why he was so determined to find Sophia. Could it have been he didn't want her childhood to be like his? Being lost and no one giving a damn. Or maybe because he knew Stef was still torn up that she was the last one to see Sophia? Or possibly because he had failed at finding Merle so far. Many reasons. "'Cause I think she's still out there." Daryl paused for a minute, trying to come up with an excuse for his constant searching that didn't show his emotion to Carol. "Truth is, what else I got to do?"

Carol looked at the younger man staring into the pond. Something told her that he still didn't feel like part of the group. That he didn't want to do things Rick or Shane had been doing because he didn't feel as important. That was complete rubbish. "We'll find her. We will. I see it."

* * *

Shane pulled on the padlock of the barn doors, once again making sure it was secure enough. They had decided that a watch should be set up for the barn, just incase something went wrong, and he had just relieved Andrea of her shift. He must have alerted the walkers to his presence, as suddenly, he felt them hitting the other side of the door. With a sigh, he moved back and sat down a few steps away. Rick was coming over from the distance after talking to Hershel. Hopefully they would be allowed to stay here for a bit longer. But not with those things.

"What's it gonna be man?" Shane asked, noticing Rick's tired look. Things hadn't gone to plan obviously by Rick's lack of enthusiasm.

"Don't know yet," he sighed, sitting down beside Shane and running a hand through his hair.

"What did he say?"

Rick didn't want to repeat it.

_I want you off this land by the end of the week._

He would get him to change his mind. He had to. Whatever it might have taken. "We're negotiating."

"Clock's ticking," Shane flung his arms up in frustration, and got up, beginning to pace around.

"No, it's not," Rick tried to reason. "We didn't even know until Glenn told us. The barn is secure!" Rick wasn't entirely sure that was one hundred percent true, but they could make it as secure as possible. They only had to please Hershel first.

"We know now! And we know it's only a stone throw away from where we sleep. Where we live. The people we love!" Shane honestly couldn't believe he was the only one who thought this was as dangerous as being out on the road. Surely someone else saw it. Andrea seemed to agree with him earlier when he had a quick chat with her, but she was agreeing with him on everything these days. "Why do you wanna stay?!" Shane was sure they could find somewhere else like the farmhouse nearby, preferably empty this time.

"We can make it safe!" Rick argued, but when Shane began to argue back, he blurted it out. "Lori's pregnant. We need to stay."

It was almost as if Shane hadn't heard what Rick had said at first, as he continued on with his rant. "We need our guns."

"I can work this out," Rick nodded his head, repeating it to assure himself. "I'll work it out."

Before he turned to walk away, the previous statement seemed to register in Shane's head. "Lori's having a baby, man?" His tone wasn't friendly, or congratulating. It was something Rick couldn't quite put his finger on. "Congratulations."

Now, was this Rick's baby, or was it his?

* * *

Stef entered the RV in hopes of finding something that could be made for the groups dinner that night. They were starting to run low on just about everything, and most of the stores in the town close to Hershel's farm had been emptied by previous groups passing through. Hershel had kindly given them some eggs from his chickens, but it wouldn't last them long when they got back on the road again. The cupboards were mostly stocked with beans and rice, and other various things that shouldn't go off from when Glenn had done supply runs into the city, and brought back what he thought could be useful. But nothing they had would satisfy them like a real meal used to do.

With a sigh, Stef pulled out a couple of packets of rice, and took some of the water to boil. Dale came in before she could make it back to the campfire, and seemed startled when he saw her stood there. "Everything OK?" Stef asked, noticing his worried look.

"I don't know," Dale shook his head, and leaned against the RV table. "It's Shane."

"What's he done now?" Stef asked, half joking, half serious.

"It's not what he's done. It's what he might do."

"How do you mean?"

Dale let out a long breath as he looked over towards where the barn was sat, and he could see Rick and Shane in the distance standing outside it. "The walkers in the barn. They are people to Hershel. Family." Although Dale knew they were dangerous, he also knew how much it hurt to lose someone you loved so much. "Shane want's to get rid of them."

"You think he's just going to snap and kill them all?" Stef asked, trying to predict where Dale was going with his speech.

"I don't know, but I think he wants to." Dale had sensed there was something off with Shane, for quite a while now. "And I think that means trouble for us. Look around, Stef. I know it's not exactly perfect, but this place is the closest we've been to a home in a while. Maybe Rick could speak to Hershel and let us stay. If..."

"If Shane doesn't ruin our chances first?" Stef guessed, and Dale nodded his head. With a sad smile, she set the rice and the water back down onto the table. "So what do you propose we do?"

* * *

"This is where you seen her?" T-Dog asked, his eyebrows raised. Carol was searching all around the spot, desperately looking for any signs of her daughter. Glenn had joined them after he had spoken to Maggie, and he had to say he was feeling a whole lot better. After she had been avoiding him for telling her dad about the walkers in the barn, he had felt the need to explain himself.

_"I had to tell him!" Glenn tried to catch up to Maggie who was walking away from him at stupidly fast pace. He wasn't even sure it was a good idea to follow as the last time he had tried to speak to her today he had gotten an egg squashed over his head, and his hat ruined._

_"No you didn't!" Maggie spun round, furious. "All you had to do was keep your mouth shut!"_

_"Don't you get it?" Glenn asked exasperated, remembering the events of the pharmacy yesterday. "I treated it like it was nothing. I let them lower me down that well like it was fun, like I was playing Portal." Maggie raised her eyebrows in confusion and Glenn sighed. "It's a video game."_

_"Of course it's a video game," Maggie muttered back._

_"But then at the pharmacy yesterday, that was something completely different. And I realized. I don't want you to be in danger. Ever. And those walkers in the barn are putting you in danger."_

_Maggie's expression softened and she looked up to meet his eyes._

_"I'd rather have you hating me and alive than liking me and dead. And that's why I told them."_

_She watched him stalk away for a few minutes, chewing her bottom lip and planning her next move. "Hey, walker bait!" She smiled when Glenn turned around and protested the name as she began to walk towards him. "Alright. Glenn." She settled a hand on his neck as she pressed her lips to his. Hopefully that would make up for it._

"About here, yeah," Nathan nodded his head and pointed to a clearing in the trees bringing Glenn back to the present. "There's a small farmhouse a bit that way, we slept there for a few nights."

"That was you?" Glenn asked, remembering Stef and Daryl had visited there previously, and not brought back or seen any new people then. But it did explain the sardines and the place Daryl thought a little girl had been sleeping. Jessica was around the same size as Sophia.

"I was sure at first it was just another walker, but something made me wonder. Didn't seem like all the others." Nathan's description made Carol brighten up a small touch. If Sophia didn't look like a walker, that had to have been a good thing, right?

The area was filled with trees, and it made it hard to see a good way in front.

"You think we should split up?" T-Dog asked, hoping to cover as much ground as possible in the time that they had.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Glenn said quietly, quickly glancing at Nathan. There was still a lot that they didn't know about the man, and one of them going off alone with him could have been risky. "Let's just stay together."

The four of them moved through the forest slowly, checking everywhere that they could see. Carol occasionally called out her daughters name, hoping that might bring her out of hiding.

* * *

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea?" Stef spoke quietly, trying not to let anyone see them heading off into the woods. Dale was carrying the large bag that contained all of the guns and ammunition they currently had on the farm. It had been kept in the RV while Hershel was enforcing a no gun policy. "I mean what if we get attacked by a herd again, we won't have anything to protect ourselves."

"It's just a temporary measure," Dale assured, planning to bring back the guns when Rick and Hershel had worked out something to do with the barn. "Just until things settle down a bit." The two continued to walk. a fair distance away from Hershel's farm. Dale was going to bury the guns somewhere, hopefully out of Shane's reach for the time being.

"Just out of curiosity," Stef began, biting her bottom lip, wondering if what she was about to say was completely stupid. "Do you think Shane changed more, when he came back from the place he went with Otis? I know you weren't there that night, but he barely spoke and went straight to cut his hair."

Dale nodded his head and his face seemed to say he knew exactly what she was talking about. "I don't think Otis was killed by walkers."

"You really think he would do that?" Stef asked after a minute. Maybe it wasn't just the dead they had to watch out for anymore.

"Maybe."

Dale finally found a spot he deemed suitable, and began the process to bury the guns. His own rifle was over his shoulder in case they ran into any danger.

"Man, this is a good hiding place." The unmistakable sound of Shane's voice, taking on an agitated, yet amused, tone could be heard coming from behind them. Both of them exchanged a panicked look before turning around to face him. Had he heard everything they had said? How long had he been following them? And most worrying of all, what was he going to do? "We ain't been in the swamps yet."

"First time for everything," Stef muttered, trying to cover up the bag of guns behind her from Shane's view. "If only you applied those tracking skills to finding Sophia, maybe we would have been at Fort Benning by now."

Shane began to walk forward, which made both of them back up a couple of steps. "Or maybe if I had gone into the woods that day, _I _wouldn't have lost her in the first place." Stef felt an invisible kick to the stomach with his words and turned her head away. Shane looked at Dale and pointed towards the bag of guns. The bag of guns that he was going to use to make this farm safe. Their farm safe. "How about you just gimme that bag, huh?"

"I'm not gonna do that," Dale said firmly, his eyes boring a hole into Shane. He was feeling so damn uncomfortable under Shane's glare, but was trying his best not to let it show. "What? Are you gonna shoot us like you did Otis, and go back and tell the group another story?"

"I wouldn't waste my time. Look at the two of you. I mean, you're pretty much dead already. What are you now Dale, seventy, eighty? Couple more years and you'd have been gone anyway. And Stef, you can't even pick up a gun, both fucking useless." Stef fought the urge to get up and beat Shane with any damn thing she could find until he was knocked out. "Gimme the guns. Do it now."

She didn't know just how unstable Shane might have been at the minute, and decided not angering him any further was the best path to take. "Look Shane, Rick is-"

"Stef, shut up," Shane mumbled while moving closer so he was only inches away from Dale. "Just shut up."

"Am I gonna have to shoot you?" Dale asked, his rifle moving so it was pointing at Shane, just above his heart. "Kill you? That's what it's gonna take?"

"Yeah. That's what it's gonna take."

Dale lowered the gun with a sigh, and moved away from the bag, allowing Shane easy access. "This is where you belong. This world, what it is now." Dale offered a hand to Stef who had crouched down where she had been standing. "We may not have what it takes to survive for long, but when the world goes to shit, at least we can say we didn't let it take us down with it."

Shane only scoffed as he picked up the bag. "That's very sweet Dale. Fair enough." He turned round and began to walk away, with the guns over his shoulder. "But I'm going to protect my people."

* * *

There were more trees in the distance, but one that stood out in particular. What looked to be a walker was lying, slumped against one of them. The group exchanged glances, before moving closer, with Glenn and T-Dog bringing out their weapons. As they closed in on the tree, they noticed that the walker was still alive. It had dried blood all over it's face, tattered clothing and a very nasty looking wound where the stomach should have been. But it's teeth were still snapping, and it looked up at them with the milky eyes they had been using to determine death. It tried to pull itself up, but only managed to make it a few steps before stumbling again. But it was persistent, and continually tried to get itself back onto it's feet.

Glenn shook his head as he plunged a knife deep into it's skull, grimacing when he heard the squelching sounds it made as it grew heavy underneath him. Managing to stabilize himself he pulled away his knife as it fell to the ground. When he looked up, he noticed the tree it had been lying against was smeared with blood. All over it, as if various walkers had been trying to climb it. Trying to reach for something. Hesitantly, he took a couple of steps forward and froze when a rustling noise came from the tree. He raised his arm, knife positioned ready to strike again. But when nothing else happened, he moved closer. Maybe it was some kind of animal and he could kill it for dinner? Who was he kidding, he was no Daryl when it came to things like that.

He circled the tree trunk much to the other three's confusion, looking for what could have made the noise. It sounded awful loud for a small animal, and as far as he knew and according to the marks on the tree, walkers couldn't yet climb. It took him almost a minute, but he finally came to the source of the noise. And he could barely breathe. "Whoah."

Had he went on too long without water and was starting to see things? Or were those really Sophia's little eyes staring back at him? He dropped his knife to the ground before reaching a hand out, and noticing Sophia hide away after she had been spotted. "It's OK Sophia, it's me. Glenn." She appeared again a couple of seconds later. "Your mom's here." He could hear a small cry coming from the girl and it made his insides do all sort of flips. "Give me your hand, we'll get you down." Glenn extended a hand, and her small fingers curled around his wrist before he tried to help her climb down from the tree.

The other three were still watching behind, but there were no words to describe the moment that Carol noticed Sophia. Her legs began to shake as T-Dog reached out and tried his best to hold her up. But within seconds she was running towards where her daughter stood staring back at them with so many emotions on her face. Happiness. Relief. They were all there. Carol wrapped her baby in her arms as soon as she reached her and held on tight for dear life.

Even T-Dog and Glenn had began to feel the tears well up in their eyes from the emotion of the reunion.

Carol pulled back and cradled her daughters face with her hands. "Are you hurt? Bit?" She asked the questions urgently, hoping that no would be the answer to both. Sophia shook her head, much to everyone else's relief. "Have you been hiding in trees the whole time?!"

Sophia only nodded again, not able to form any words properly at the minute. The last week or so had been spent running through the forest by day, looking for any signs of her group anywhere, or trying to find food and water to keep herself alive. At night she had spent her time up different trees, hoping the walkers wouldn't be able to reach her and that she could survive for another day. She had been scared out of her mind, every single second, and now that she had some form of safety again with her mother, it was almost too much.

T-Dog came over to join the pair, and nodded his head back in the direction of Hershel's farm. Although he was ecstatic that they had found Sophia alive and unharmed, a small part of him was upset that it meant Hershel would probably now be wanting them gone. They might as well spend as much time here as they had left. "We should get moving. Get the little lady some proper food and water." Carol stood upright and nodded her head, taking her daughters hand and holding it as tightly as she could.

If she had her way, she never wanted to let go of it again.

* * *

Stef and Dale ran as quickly as they could behind Shane back in the direction of the farm. They both knew what was coming, and Dale had been right the whole time. They were in a hell of a lot of trouble if they couldn't get him to stop. When they arrived back at the Greene farmhouse, Rick was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Glenn or T-Dog, or anyone else that may have been better aided to help. Apart from Daryl. Stef started to make her way over towards him, before being beaten to it by Shane. She seen Shane hand him a large shotgun from the bag before the two of them turned and walked in the direction of the barn.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath as she tried to follow, ignoring the stitch in her side from the non stop running. Before they reached the barn they also managed to pick up Andrea with her gun, and Lori, Beth, Patricia, Maggie and Carl followed, wondering what all the commotion was. Before long, all the group that were present were outside Hershel's barn. This could only end badly. Where the hell was Rick?

As if on cue, the former sheriff seemed to come out of nowhere from the trees in the distance. Stef blew out a breath in relief, but narrowed her eyes when she seen what Rick was holding onto. Was that a walker?! What on earth was he doing with a walker? Hershel and Jimmy appeared into view also, both of them with walkers in tow too.

_"You knew them?" Rick asked, slowly getting closer to the walkers that appeared to be stuck in a swampy area. They were reaching out trying to grab them, but their lower bodies seemed to be stuck. If this was how he had to help Hershel to be allowed to stay on the farm, maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all._

_"Next door neighbors. You think we're crazy, don't you?" Hershel noticed Rick looking a cross between shocked and appalled and shook his head. "I know you think they can't be saved Rick, but I believe there might be a way. And until we know for sure, we take them back to the barn. How many have you killed?"_

_"Too many to count," Rick answered, recalling his journey for the last couple of months._

_"Can you stop?" Hershel asked, coming to a halt beside where the walkers were stuck. He seemed unfazed by the fact they were desperately trying to get a hold of him, to have him as their next meal. "You're going to have to if you want to stay. My house. My barn. My rules."_

_Rick gave a short nod of his head as Jimmy handed him one of the poles they had brought with them. "Otis said if you get 'em out halfway, they'll do the rest of the work themselves."_

_Rick managed to capture one of the walkers, hooking it around the neck, and tugging on the pole until it's body started to come loose. That meant that they could come at him with a hell of a lot more power though, and he found himself struggling to control the walker. "How many times did he do this?!"_

_Hershel seemed to have a better hold on his walker, clearly having had much more practice than Rick. "If one wandered onto our property, Otis would get him in the barn."_

_"What happens if the barn gets full?" Rick's question went unanswered as Jimmy suddenly fell to the ground, the walker he was holding onto getting the upper hand over him. Hershel helped him upright and took the walker back, noticing Rick too was having problems._

_"Lead him Rick," he instructed, starting back in the direction of the farm. You're the carrot, not the stick."_

_"This is easy?" Rick asked incredulously._

_"It's easier than some things."_

Shane was the first person to take action and darted over to the three, or six if you included the dead, his gun raised and ready to fire. Hershel furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed the gun.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Shane yelled, outraged. If it wasn't bad enough Hershel was stupid enough to hang on to these walkers, now he had dragged Rick into it too?

"Shane, back off!" Rick warned, trying to guide his walker towards the barn, closely followed by Hershel and Jimmy. "Let me do this, and then we can talk!"

"What do we need to talk about Rick?! They ain't people, they're dead!" Shane was yelling the words as loud as he could, trying to make everyone around him wake up and fucking realize it. "Dangerous. Dead." Shane positioned his gun at the walker Hershel was holding onto. It was like some damn dog on a lead. "They killed Amy." He directed that one at Andrea. "They killed Otis." And that one was for Patricia. "But I sure as hell ain't letting them take anyone else!" Hershel watched worriedly as Shane got closer.

"Lemme ask you this, Hershel. Could a living person walk away from this?!"

Shane fired the gun once, hitting the walker right in the stomach, but it continued to lunge at him, trying to take a bite.

"Could a living, breathing person take that?"

Another shot.

"Why is he still coming?!"

Three shots this time, all hitting the walker in the stomach or the heart, and doing no damage at all.

In the brief moments Daryl had enough time to tear away his eyes, from the inevitable disaster that was about to happen, he noticed Stef flinch every time Shane shot his gun at the walker. He also noticed Nathan come up behind her out of nowhere and settle his hand on her shoulder. _Fucker_. He had to fight the urge to smirk when she pulled away from him.

"Enough!" Rick yelled back, pushing his walker away to the side a bit. The noise was only agitating them further and making them all the more difficult to control.

"You're right Rick. That is enough!" Shane put one final bullet in the walker, this time making sure that it went straight to the brain, and killed the thing completely. Hershel watched horrified as the walker fell to the ground in front of him, the pole slipping out of his hands. Shane wasn't finished however, and turned his attention onto the banging coming from the barn. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who is gone! Enough living next to a barnful of things! It's time to survive, and we gotta fight for it, I'm talking right here, right now!"

"No Shane, do not do this brother, please. This is not the way." Rick had an idea of what was coming next, and it would ruin everything that they had been working for. "Hershel, take it now!" Rick tried to hand his walker to the older man, but he had sank down onto his knees on the ground and was staring ahead of him wordlessly. Maggie rushed to her fathers side, trying to make sure that he was OK. But it was too late. Shane had already reached the barn door.

The final thing Daryl noticed before shit finally hit the fan was T-Dog and Glenn coming in late and joining what had finished up looking like a firing squad, both armed and aiming for the barn to open. Hershel was still looking horrified at the walker he had been holding onto, now lying completely dead on the grass. And then two figures emerged in the distance, far behind everyone else. And Daryl would have bet everything he had that it was a hallucination, had Carl not broken out of his mothers arms and ran towards the pair.

Because beside the person that looked a hell of a lot like Carol, stood someone who looked a hell of a lot like Sophia. His features contorted in confusion, and he looked to Glenn and T-Dog. A flicker of a smile crossed the faces of both men, before Shane began to bang his fists against the barn.

He had a wild, crazy look in his eyes as he started to open the door.

* * *

**And it's finally done! And yes, Sophia is alive! I'm too much of a softy to kill her off it seems. I'm sad that everyone in the US gets to watch new Walking Dead episodes tonight, and here in the UK we have to wait until Friday :( Hope you all enjoy it! Next chapter will be the aftermath of the barn scene, some Hershel at the bar maybe, and definitely some Daryl/Stef time. It has been a stressful day for them after all ;)**


	24. Chapter 24

**So I didn't cover everything here, we'll go back to the bar, Lori in the car etc. next chapter. Most of this is just a little late Valentine's present for you all ;) Apologies for my update times, I know I need to get them out quicker! Hope you all enjoy. P.S. This chapter is Rated M.**

**FuchsiaGrasshopper: **And I finally got to see the new episode last night! It was like damn Merle, he's gonna make my story hard for me when I get to that part, haha.

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC's.**_

* * *

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the walkers began to spill out of the barn. They pushed each other and shoved, trying to get to the front and get to the group quicker. But barely one of them got past the doors as each of the camp members in turn fired their guns. One by one the walkers dropped to the floor.

Hershel was watching horrified from where he was still kneeling on the ground. Maggie was trying to support him, but her own emotions were getting the better of her, as she recognized who each and every one to come out of the barn had been. Her friends, her neighbors, step-brother. Her own tears began to slide down her cheek. Glenn noticed from where he was standing firing, but couldn't do anything to stop it, not being able to let any of the walkers reach his people. Beth, Patricia and Jimmy were standing slightly further back, observing. Beth seemed to be searching for someone when each of the walkers emerged.

When the numbers seemed to thin out, and they didn't come out of the barn so quickly, the men took some of the last shots, hoping that the barn was finally empty. And it seemed to be, after a minute of silence when nothing else came out.

Until the doors creaked slightly again. They pushed open just enough to make out a woman, who looked to be around the same age as Hershel, starting to stumble out. Her white dress was dirty and covered in blood, and her blonde hair was no longer clean or neat. Stef heard a small cry escape Beth which started to turn into a pained sobbing. That must have been who Beth was looking for. But what made that woman so special?

"Mom!" Beth broke out of her boyfriend's grasp before anyone could stop her and started running towards the pile of bodies that had accumulated. Hershel covered his face with his hands, but he seemed to be refusing to move from his spot. She ran straight into Daryl's path and he managed to reach out and grab her, just before she got to her mother. Stef's heart broke for her as she crumbled to the ground in his arms. Daryl glanced at Stef in distress, not knowing what to do with the crying girl in his arms.

She moved over beside the two of them, and pulled the younger girl into a hug, trying to keep her eyes away from the scene in front of her. Rick approached the walker that had been Mrs Greene, and with a quick look back at Hershel. shakily lifted his hand to pull the trigger. He knew how much trouble this was going to put them in.

Hershel seemed to regain life when he noticed his youngest daughter breaking down and got up to his feet, moving over to take her from Stef. He glared at every one of the group in turn, before turning around and starting towards his house. Patricia and Maggie both followed the two, keeping apart from everyone else. Rick, Glenn and Shane began to follow, making an attempt to fix what had just happened. When they reached the porch, Hershel turned to Shane and pushed the man away from him. "Get him off my land!"

Shane was just about to argue what he had done, when Maggie stepped forward and slapped him across the cheek. "Don't touch him! Haven't you done enough?"

"I mean it." Hershel gave them one last look before disappearing into the house. "Off my land." Glenn gave the two men an apologetic look as he followed behind, Maggie closing the door after him.

Once Hershel had disappeared into the house, Rick turned around to face Shane with a furious expression. Before he could say anything, T-Dog and the rest of the group finally caught up with them.

"Hey, guys?"

"Not now, T-Dog!" Rick began, but followed the direction that T-Dog was looking anyway. His heart skipped a beat when he discovered what T-Dog had been trying to make him see.

"Is.. is that Sophia?" Rick asked, squinting his eyes. Of course it was, who the fuck else would it be? But was she really standing there or were things popping up in his head now? But Carol was grinning back at him, as was Carl. Even Lori had a tiny smile on her face regardless of all the stuff that had just went down.

"We found her out in the forest. She had been spending most of her time up in trees staying away from the walkers." Carol sounded more than proud of her daughter, and pushed her forward slightly. "Say thank you to the group, sweetheart. Everyone has looked so hard for you." Carol gave Daryl a small smile, thanking him specifically for spending almost every hour of his days searching, even although it had almost cost him his life. He only gave a quick nod in return.

"Thank you," Sophia spoke quietly, still as shy as Stef could remember from before the highway.

Shane looked lost, not knowing what was standing before him. His hand came up to tiredly rub his face. She was alive. He had convinced himself she was dead, and they would have been better to move on. But they would have been leaving Sophia here with none of them around if Rick had listened to him. Maybe for once he had to admit that he was wrong. And that Rick had been right. And Daryl. And everyone else.

"It's so good she's back," Rick dropped his gun to the ground, and half walked half ran to meet the little girl, bending down and pulling her into a hug when he got there. "But everyone needs to get to work. We've got to get rid of the bodies in the barn."

* * *

"We're gonna need a lot of holes for everyone," Jimmy observed, leading Stef, Andrea, Nathan and T-Dog over to where the burial was going to take place.

"We bury the ones we loved and burn the rest," Stef told him, remembering the phrase that Glenn had used that they had been sticking to ever since the attack on the quarry that had led to the deaths of Amy and Jim.

"You sound like experts on this kind of thing," he handed each one of them a shovel, and Stef tried for a small laugh. As sad as it was, they kind of were becoming experts in that field. "What was her name, Hershel's wife?"

"Annette," Jimmy answered, taking off his cowboy style hat. "And Shaun, that was Beth's brother."

"Why don't we dig a grave for them then?" Stef suggested, and everyone else nodded, setting to work immediately.

"We can move everyone else in the truck," T-Dog agreed. A fire far away from where they were situated would have been the best. That way they didn't have the constant reminder near them.

An hour or so later, and they had managed to dig two graves for where they were to be buried. Carol didn't attend the burial service, but had taken the kids to get something to eat, and patch up Sophia's minor cuts and scratches from her time out in the forest. Daryl had said he was going to see to something else, so once the work had been done he left too. And Hershel didn't even make an appearance at the service.

Stef stood by Maggie and Beth and tried to offer as much support as she could as they said a final goodbye to their family members. It was bad enough they had already lost them the first time when they had turned into walkers, but now to have to let go of them again, must have been worse.

As the burial ended, Maggie almost had to carry her tearful sister back to the house. This was all so new to them. The deaths, the burials. But for Stef and her group, it was becoming a normal thing to do.

Everyone turned away to get on with whatever work was left to be done. There were still thirty something other bodies that had to be taken away and burned, and it wasn't the most pleasant of tasks to do.

"Stef... can I talk to you a minute?" Glenn asked, pulling her aside quickly, out of earshot from the rest of the group.

"What's up? Is Maggie alright?"

"I think so. It's about me.. and the farm."

"What do you mean?"

Glenn let out a long sigh. "You know that Hershel want's everybody off his land now."

Stef nodded her head slightly, already imagining the man would be none too pleased with them.

"Maggie thinks that if she talked to him... he might let me stay."

"Oh." Stef gave him a small smile, but that contradicted what she was feeling. Was Glenn going to leave the group? Her little brother of the apocalypse staying and she might never see him again? "So you're not coming with us if we have to leave?"

"I didn't say that yet." Glenn took off his cap and scratched at his head, once again with a million things running through his brain. "I just... I really like Maggie. And I don't want to have to leave her."

"I know," Stef tried for a genuine smile this time. She had to be happy for him. "And if it's what you want, then go for it." She pulled him into a quick hug. "But remember, you have people that care about you in this group too. More than you know."

* * *

Daryl wasn't gone. He had just moved. And was easy to trace once you followed the puffs of smoke coming from his campfire.

"Are we really that bad?" Stef joked half-heartedly as she came to a stop where Daryl had set up a mini camp. When she had noticed his tent was gone earlier when the Greene funeral was over, she had automatically thought the worst. He had packed up and gone. Left her here. It had always been at the back of her mind that he might want to go out searching for Merle, but she never knew if he would really do it. Daryl preferred to do things on his own. His hunting. When he had been looking for Sophia. Maybe she had been getting in his space too much after all. But when night had fallen after a hard afternoon of work, she had decided to take a walk and check out he was alright. Of course he would be, he was Daryl. She knew she had just been making excuses in her head to go and see him.

"Nah, I jus' don't wanna be a part of whatever is goin' on back there." Daryl pointed over in the direction of the Greene's farmhouse. "Too much drama, causes' people to get killed now." Rick and Glenn still hadn't came back from town, with or without Hershel, and now Lori had gone off to look for them. Shane had been nervous ever since she had left and had taken Nathan to try and find her, and Carol had been left with looking after not only her recently found daughter, but two other young children too. She couldn't really blame him for wanting to get away.

"I'll give you peace in a bit then, just wanted to see if you want anything to eat?" There wasn't really much she could offer, but she had always been taught it was nice to ask.

"I'm good thanks," Daryl nodded his head in the direction of where he had some squirrel hanging up on a piece of rope. "Ya ain't botherin' me, by the way."

"Huh?" Stef walked a bit closer and noticed Daryl's little setup. Beside the squirrel looked to be some ears hanging up. She looked at them for a long moment but didn't say anything. It wasn't so much homely, but it was very Daryl. And it was nice.

"I mean, bein' here. Don' mind ya bein' here." She raised her eyebrows at his stuttered words. "Your stuff's still in the tent anyway, didn't know if ya wanted to stay out here."

"Of course I do. I don't think I'd be welcome to stay in the house anymore anyway after Shane's little show earlier." They had pretty much had their warning from Hershel that they were to get the hell out of there. But after Hershel had vanished to the bar, or at least that's where everyone hoped he was, they had a bit more time to sort themselves out.

"I think he had his reasons," Daryl poked at the small fire he had made as he tried to keep it going although the grass beneath was damp and the wood he was using wasn't much better.

"Don't know if Hershel will understand those reasons."

"He was just looking out for the people he cares about." Daryl was kinda starting to understand that. "Sometimes I think it's a competition between him an' Rick, to see who can impress Olive Oyl more."

Stef sniggered at his nickname for Lori. "You picked up on that too?"

"Yeah, since the quarry." The Sheriff's wife and his best friend had been practically joined at the hip until he showed up again. Shane's jealousy was clear as anything. "She came by earlier, asked if I would go find her husband for her. Called me selfish 'cause I said no."

"You're not selfish," Stef assured him quickly. "You risked your life to find Sophia." What a complete awful thing for Lori to say. Stef had tried her best to help her as much as she could, and Glenn and Maggie had risked their lives, not once, but twice, to go and fetch Lori stuff from the pharmacy, yet she still had the nerve to call other people selfish? That one didn't sit too well with her. "At least we got Sophia back," Stef still couldn't believe how she had just turned up, how damn lucky they were to have caught her up that tree. "Something good about today."

"Never doubted we would have," Daryl shrugged, the corners of his mouth possibly even twitching up into a half smile.

"Guess I should head back to the house, see how Beth is. She's not doing so well after losing her mom... again." Stef gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she turned to leave.

Daryl reached out for her hand, "Or," he finished his suggestion by pulling her closer and pressing his lips to hers. "We got some space out here." He kissed her quickly again. "No one to bother us..." He kissed her more forcefully this time, his tongue slipping into her mouth and fusing with her own.

"Hmm.." she pulled away with a small grin on her face. "Does sound tempting."

"Good."

"But Beth..."

"She has family." He didn't leave it open for any more discussion, and went straight back into the heated kiss. His hands worked to encourage her backwards into the tent, and he made sure it was completely zipped up once they were inside. No Andrea poking her head in this time, no Glenn loitering around outside. Privacy from their group was like some sort of luxury at the minute, and they had finally earned some. Once they were totally out of view from everyone else, Stef began to remove all the items of clothing that Daryl had been wearing. She pulled a little over enthusiastically on his shirt at one point, breaking off one of the buttons.

"Oops," she couldn't help but giggle slightly as Daryl pulled it out of her fingers and tossed it to the side. He smirked down at her, as he too attempted to remove the clothing on her body that was preventing them being skin to skin. Once they were left with only underwear, he lowered her down gently so that she could lay on top of the sleeping bags, and the blankets he had used for covers they had picked up at the motel.

Daryl pinned her arms down at her sides with his hands, and leaned down to begin his work on her neck, alternating between kissing, sucking and biting, which was sure to leave his mark once he was finished. He'd show them all. Show them she was taken. _She was his_. Stef sighed happily into the action, already feeling Daryl's excitement growing through his boxers as he pressed against her thigh.

When he brought his hand up to push away the hair getting in the way of her neck, she noticed the tiny star tattoo, just under the thumb. Her own hand came up and traced over the outline, which made Daryl pause his actions so his lips were only hovering over her skin.

"What's wrong?" Stef asked quietly, propping herself up onto her elbow. Daryl didn't answer. It was the tattoo that had made him stop. "What's the star for?"

Daryl pulled away and sat back on his heels, refusing to make eye contact. Nobody had ever asked, usually just assuming it was a random tattoo he had gotten. "For my mom," Daryl mumbled shyly, imagining he was now a bigger girl than he was already beginning to feel like. "She died when I was seven."

Stef didn't say anything, just allowed him to fill the silence if he wanted to go on. Daryl was quiet for a minute, and she began to feel exposed, so she ended up using one of the blankets from on top of the sleeping bag to wrap around her body. Daryl let out a long sigh as he began to chew on his thumbnail. "Was out playin' with some of the kids in the neighborhood one day. We heard these fire trucks goin' past, an' they all wanted to follow. They had bikes, I didn't. Took me a while to catch up with them."

Stef scooted over to where he was sitting and took his hand, rubbing soothing circles with her thumb. "You don't need to tell me anymore if you don't want to."

Daryl gave his head a quick shake. "When I turned the corner, everyone was starin' at me. The kids, neighbors, firemen. See, my mom liked to drink in bed. And smoke."

It wasn't hard to tell where the story was going, or predict what the ending was.

"It was my house they were there for. My mom in bed, burnt to a crisp. She just disappeared."

Daryl always thought deep down that's why he had spent so long resenting her. Because she had just left him. She hadn't done her job as a mother, being there for him, protecting him. She had just gone. Maybe if she hadn't died that night, things could have been different for him. Maybe he wouldn't have suffered as much as he did. Right?

"I'm sorry," she whispered quietly, Daryl finally looking up long enough to meet her eyes again. If she had a time machine, she would have gone back for little Daryl, and told him that he would be alright in the future.

"What for? Ain't yer fault." Daryl seemed to forget everything that had just happened as he almost pounced on top of her, forcing her back into a lying down position, and continued working his lips over her skin, discarding the blanket to the side.

_Now wasn't the time for thinking about that shit. _

He hooked his thumb through one of her bra straps, and slowly pulled it down her arm. After he had repeated the motion on the other side, he used his strength to ever so slightly raise her off the sleeping bag and unclasp the bra, tossing it to the side.

His lips then worked their way downwards from her neck, making a trail, covering every piece of skin that he could find, from her neck, to her breasts, to her stomach. Her breathing was coming quicker as he pushed his hips against hers, and she almost groaned in frustration that there was still material separating them. Taking matters into her own hands, her fingers slipped under the waistband of his boxers and began to pull them down, brushing over the tip of him as she did, causing him to let out a small groan.

"Daryl... please." Hearing her beg using his name almost sent him over the edge that very second. He removed the bottom half of her underwear in one swift movement, and supported himself above her using his hands so he wasn't crushing her.

He covered her mouth with his own as he slowly slid his hard length into her. Her hands looked for anything to grab onto, eventually settling on his shoulders, as they adjusted to the feeling. "OK?" he whispered, earning a nod of approval from Stef. She gasped for breath as he started to move, quickly picking up a rhythm. He wasn't as slow or as gentle as he had been the first time, but she wasn't complaining as she rocked her body against his, causing him to hit every nerve perfectly.

They never broke eye contact once which seemed to make the whole thing much more intimate and intense. Her nails dug into his back as he continued to thrust into her, quiet noises of pleasure coming from both of them every now and then. They were far away enough that no one would hear them, but they still couldn't get too carried away. There was danger around every corner and if you weren't constantly on alert then there could be trouble.

Daryl lifted one of her legs and wrapped it around his back, and he felt so damn good, she knew it was impossible for herself to hold off any longer. Her body went tense, before snapping like an elastic band and pleasure flooded every inch of her body. Everything that had happened up until and since she had met Daryl was worth it for this exact moment in time. She moaned his name quietly into his neck several times as her arms, legs and the rest of her body went weak, apart from a tingling feeling reminding her of how amazing the man on top of her was. His own orgasm wasn't far behind, and she could feel his body jerking before he released his warmth into her while he buried his face into her hair.

They remained in the same position for a long while, hands roaming over each others sweat covered and exhausted bodies, and lips connecting with whatever piece of the other happened to be closest. After he finally managed to gather enough strength to move, Daryl reached out just enough to extinguish the lamp in the tent, and grab one of the blankets to cover them both. He spread it out before climbing under and pulling Stef closer to his chest. It was sort of becoming something he didn't have to think about now, more of an automatic response. Same as always, she snuggled in closer to him as a small yawn escaped her lips.

She reached up to push the hair out of his eyes and rested her hand on his cheek. "Night, Daryl." It took him a minute before he finally mumbled a response, and they both drifted off quickly, lack of sleep from last night finally catching up with them.


	25. Chapter 25

**So, we do a bit of jumping back to the bar in this scene, anything in italics is in the past. And introducing... a Randall shaped obstacle to everyone's lives, how fun?! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**P.S. I don't know if anyone has played The Walking Dead game, but I'm starting to understand how Rick is feeling. Basically, you find an orphaned 8 year old called Clementine and have to look after her and your group, making decisions and stuff, and already I love her to pieces and get so stressed keeping her safe :(**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC's.**_

* * *

_Hershel stared at the bottom of the empty glass that had been holding his whisky. He had gotten to the end of yet another one, and was debating over whether or not to fill it up again. His mind was telling him to just lift the bottle up, pour some more and drink until he forgot. Forgot the events that had occurred in the past couple of hours. But his heart was constantly reminding him of what was waiting for him back at the farm. The look on his daughters' faces when they seen their family crumpling to the ground. He knew they needed him in this particular moment, more now than maybe ever before, but he couldn't bring himself to move. To go back to those people who had taken over his home. Those animals. Especially Shane, who had no regret in his eyes whatsoever as he had taken out each one of Hershel's friends and family. Not even giving them a chance for a cure to be found. Because it could be out there somewhere, but now he wouldn't have any use for it. _

_Alcohol was probably the last thing he had needed. But the bar in town seemed like the only place that he could get away to. He didn't want to be anywhere near the 'burial service' that Rick's people were going to be holding. He would rather they spent their time packing up their stuff and getting a move on. They had found the little girl they had been looking for, and they no longer needed to hang around. Rick had pleaded with him to stay, especially now that his wife was pregnant. But they would find somewhere else if they just kept looking. There were plenty of houses in the surrounding area. Although maybe not with as much space, or food available. Was he being cruel sending them away after all? _

_Almost as if thinking about them would make them appear, he heard the door creak open._

_"Hershel?" Rick's questioning voice came from behind him, just as he had expected. Rick and Shane seemed to be sharing the role of group's leader, and they would have to be fucking idiots to send Shane after what had happened in the afternoon._

_"Who's with you?" Either Rick had come alone, or if he had been more sensible than himself he would have brought back up into town. Hershel hadn't run across any walkers on the way here, but he knew it had been an awful idea to come without protection._

_"Glenn."_

_Hershel almost rolled his eyes out of view of the other pair. Of course Glenn was with him. In fact, if his daughter had it her way, then Glenn was going to be with him most of the time from now on. He wouldn't be happy if Glenn moved in, hell, he was already keeping Beth's boyfriend in the house much to his annoyance. But it would be better than if every one of them stayed. "Maggie send him?"_

_"He volunteered," Rick answered, edging closer to the bar. "He's good like that." His hand reached out to take the whisky bottle from in front of Hershel before he got the chance to stop him. "How many have you had?"_

_"Not enough," Hershel muttered to himself, as he snatched the bottle back and poured another glass. _

_"Let's finish this back at the farm, Beth collapsed. She's in some sort of state, must be in shock. Think you are too." Hershel scrunched his eyes tightly shut hoping that this would all go away and everyone would leave him alone. He didn't want to stay here, knowing his daughter was struggling, but he couldn't bring himself to go back and face everyone. _

_"Maggie's with her, but she needs her mother." Hershel knew that was something he couldn't give her anymore. He also knew how pissed at him Maggie would be that he had resorted back to alcohol again. "Or rather she needs to mourn, something that should have happened a long time ago. I robbed her of that." He had given her false hope. Hope that maybe her mother wasn't dead. Hope that some day soon everything would go back to normal._

_"You thought there was a cure," Rick said sadly as he sat himself down on the barstool next to Hershel. Glenn was still hovering in the background, wary about getting any closer. "You can't blame yourself, holding out for hope." There it was. That damn 'h' word again._

_"When I first saw you running across that field, your boy in your arms, I didn't think he was going to survive. But he did. And even although we lost Otis.." Hershel paused and exhaled deeply at the mention of his dead friends name. "Shane made it back." He tried as best as he could to hide the resentment in his voice at the fact. Honestly enough, he liked most of the people in Rick's group. He just didn't want them on his farm. But he wasn't anywhere near to liking Shane. "It was a sham, and your people saw right through that, Rick. My family deserved better than that."_

_Hershel turned away, signaling end of conversation, and Rick walked over towards Glenn at the door._

_"What do we do? Wait for him to pass out?" Glenn nervously paced by the door of the bar, keeping watch for walkers or anything else that might have put them in danger. Hershel didn't seem like he was ready for moving anytime soon, almost as if he had been super glued to his barstool. His heart was urging him back to the farm, but his mind was more focused on the alcohol in front of him. Slowly, but surely pushing all thoughts to the back of his mind replacing them with a warm glow in his stomach. Slowly, making him forget._

_Rick was starting to get annoyed as he ran a hand through his hair. He was tired, hungry and just generally irritated. He still had Shane to deal with when he got back to the farm, Lori and his baby. Or was it Shane's baby? Now wasn't the time to be worrying about that, but it still seemed to be flashing loud and clear in his mind. "Look, I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe, and I ain't gonna break my promise to her. What's the plan Hershel?" Rick left his spot beside Glenn to make his point to Hershel. "You gonna drink yourself to death? That's not gonna help your family!"_

_"Don't tell me how to run my family!" Hershel got up off his stool, the force almost sending it toppling backwards. Everything had been fine, until Rick showed up with his son, shot. "You people... you're like the plague! Destroyed it all!" Hershel was trying his best to keep it together but every second of this day was pushing him further and further towards the edge. "And you... you're supposed to be the leader?"_

_Rick gave a quick nod, and let out a long sigh. He was trying his best for those people back at the farm. For his family. His friends. "I'm here now, aren't I?"_

_"Yes. Yes, you are." Hershel retreated back into his sitting down position. "Didn't want to believe you," he admitted quietly, not wanting to go into the whole 'you were right and I was wrong thing, "that there was no cure. That people were dead, and not sick. But when Shane shot Lou in the chest, and she just kept coming, that's when I knew what an ass I'd been. Annette had been dead long ago and I'd been feeding her rotten corpse's. That's when I knew I was wrong. And when they came out of the barn, the look on your face, I knew you knew it too." Hershel rubbed at his face as thoughts flooded his head. "There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do, don't you?"_

_Glenn grimaced as Hershel repeated his words, possible the most depressing he had heard since the world went to shit. "There is no hope for any of us, Rick."_

_Exasperated, Rick slammed his hands onto the surface of the bar. "We're not doing this anymore! Nothing has changed! Whether it's by a walker, or cancer or old age, death is death! The people back at that camp... they need us. Even if it's just to give them a reason to go on," Rick silently prayed that his words were getting through to him. Things were looking good as Hershel downed the rest of what was in the glass. "This isn't about what we believe anymore, it's about them."_

_He let out a long breath of relief as Hershel stood and prepared to follow the pair our of the bar. But they hadn't made it to the door before it swung open in front of him. _

_"Son of a bitch. They're alive."_

* * *

Stef's eyes fluttered open the next morning when she sensed Daryl move beside her, before she felt the loss of heat that his body had been providing. She knew it was still very early, as the dim light meant the sun hadn't started to rise properly yet. He reached out for the lamp, and began to get dressed in it's dim glow. Stef tiredly watched his movements, pulling the blanket up a bit and trying to keep the warmth his body had left. After Daryl had gotten clothes on his bottom half, he bent down to pick up the shirt lying on the tent floor. Stef's eyes immediately focused on his back. She had never really seen his back bare in proper lighting. She let out a long breath as she took in the large scars all over his back, underneath his two tattoos. His stomach was bad, but this was something else. It looked like he had come straight out of a slasher movie. And her heart ached as she thought about what, or who, had done this to him. His brother? His father?

Daryl's head turned just slightly so he could see over his shoulder, and Stef managed to close her eyes just in time so that she wasn't caught looking at him. "You awake?" his voice was quiet, but audible.

"Uh huh," she rolled over and opened her eyes again so she could see him as he sat down next to her.

"Goin' out for a bit," Daryl indicated that he had his crossbow all ready for going out into the forest hunting. "See if I can find anythin' for eatin', some squirrel or somethin'."

"Alright, you know if Rick and Glenn are back yet?" Stef was worried that the men hadn't came back by nightfall, and even although they were situated a bit further away from camp now, she still hadn't heard any cars come in through the night. Then again, Lori, Shane and Nathan had all followed. Surely someone had to be back.

"Don' know, didn't hear anythin'," Daryl had slept fairly peacefully last night for a change. "If they ain't back by this afternoon sometime, might go an' have a look for them. Sure Olive Oyl will be pleased 'bout that."

"I should probably get up and head to the house, see how Beth is doing." Stef pulled herself from beneath the warm blanket and into the cool morning air, which had to be some form of torture. They were getting closer and closer to winter, and all she had packed for her weekend with her mom were summer style clothes. Daryl noticed her slight shiver. "Got a bit distracted last night."

"Oh yeah?" A small smirk crossed Daryl's face as he began rummaging through his stuff for something. "Good distraction?"

"Great one," Stef beamed back at him, as he finally found what he was looking for, and pulled out a denim jacket from his bag of belongings. He waited until she had put her t-shirt on before he moved behind her to lift her arms into the jacket. "You sure?"

"Yeah, ain't so warm out there," Daryl dropped his hands away, seeming shocked by his own caring gesture. "Should get goin'." He turned away, but not before Stef had time to reach up and pull his lips down to her own, kissing him softly.

"Be careful out there," Stef looked down at his side before carefully reaching up to brush her fingers over his still healing head wound. "Don't want you coming back half dead this time."

"I'll try my best," he gave her a smile, or at least as close to a smile as Daryl could do, as he left the tent.

* * *

_"I'm Dave," the first of the two newcomers stepped forward and introduced himself. "That scrawny douchebag is Tony." The men laughed at their own joke, as Tony was quite the opposite of scrawny. In fact, he looked like he had been eating damn well since the outbreak began._

_"Eat me Dave," the man laughed, checking out the bar they had found, as well as the company that had come with it. _

_"Hey, maybe someday I will." Dave sat himself down on one of the chairs and crossed his legs up on the table, immediately making himself at home. The other three men hung back behind the bar, Rick silently thinking about his next move._

_"I'm Glenn, it's nice to meet some new people," Glenn offered them a half smile with his introduction, willing to give the men a chance to introduce themselves, and possibly make some new allies. Stef and T-Dog could bring new people back to the group, maybe they could too. Rick also introduced himself as Dave got up and began to pour himself a drink. He offered one to Glenn and Rick, who politely accepted and then one to Hershel._

_"I just quit," he replied dryly, pushing the glass in front of him away so he wasn't tempted to have anymore. _

_"You really do have a unique sense of timing, eh?" Dave asked sitting down again._

_"Here's to a better day and new friends and to the dead... may they be in a better place." Dave raised his glass and Glenn and Rick followed, even although none of them drank afterwards. As Dave had his arm raised, Rick's eyes settled on the gun that he had in the holster on his belt. Dave followed his gaze down. "Not bad, huh? Got it off a cop."_

_"I'm a cop," Rick remarked, his eyes narrowing at the man._

_Dave let out a small laugh, "This one was already dead." He took a long drink from the glass as Glenn asked where they had been heading for. "First it was DC, heard there might be some sort of refugee camp there. Didn't work out and we heard about all these other places, Kansas, Nebraska. Thought we'd head there. Plenty of guns and shit." He took a look at Glenn who was still fidgeting nervously behind the bar. Would be one easy target if anything happened here. "Ever been to Nebraska, kid?" Glenn stayed silent, but shook his head. "There's a reason they call them flyover states. So where y'all headed?"_

_Rick spared a quick glance at Hershel before he answered. If he got his way, then they wouldn't be going anywhere. Maybe there was still a tiny chance Hershel would share the space on his farm, with winter coming and all. "Fort Benning, actually."_

_"Hate to be the one to tell you this, but we ran across a guard stationed at Fort Benning. Full of those things, he said." Rick and Glenn exchanged a look. If Hershel didn't let the group stay, with or without Glenn, they had no other plan for anywhere else to go. Fort Benning had been the only place discussed. "There is no way out of this mess. Dave studied them all carefully, before looking around again. "Don't look like you guys are hanging up your hats here. You holed up somewhere else?"_

_Rick immediately snapped into defense mode. Dave and Tony weren't giving off entirely positive vibes. They couldn't reveal about the farm just yet. "Not really."_

_"Couldn't help noticing the cars out there, kinda empty don't you think? Surely you have something else?" Dave smirked at Tony as the other three men began to squirm under their questioning. "Surely you have a trailer park, development, farm, or something?" Rick continued to glare unamusedly as Dave broke into an awful rendition of 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'._

_"Got any cooze?" Tony asked, moving into the corner and beginning to urinate. Where the hell was his manners? Respect? "Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks." Rick looked at the man in disgust. He couldn't take these men anywhere near the farm. He had to think about Lori, Stef, Andrea, Carol, Hershel's girls and everyone else..._

_"Excuse him, city boy, doesn't know how to behave," Dave nodded in the direction of his buddy. "See, we were thinking of setting up around here somewhere, somewhere safe. What you've got sounds pretty sweet. You could have some Southern hospitality, y'know? We got some buddies having a real hard time." Glenn momentarily panicked.. just how many of them was there? "We could help y'all out."_

_"We can't take in anymore," Rick stated firmly. "It's full at the farm as it is."_

_"You guys are something else, I thought we were friends? I got people I gotta look out for too," Dave got up, and moved behind the bar again. "I mean, you don't know what it's like for us, what we've had to go through?"_

_"I've got to look after my people," Rick affirmed. "I'm sure you can understand that."_

_"We won't do any harm. Ain't nobodys hands clean in what's left of this world." Although Rick wasn't going for it, a small part of him had to agree with what Dave had said. "So what do you say? Why don't we take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and get to know each other?"_

_"I'm sorry, that's not going to happen," Rick's fingers slipped down out of view to check his gun was in place. He wasn't sure how the men were going to react to that, but he didn't want anymore trouble than what was needed. Tony didn't like the answer and quickly got into Rick's space. "Calm down," he warned, preparing to act at any minute._

_"Don't ever tell me to calm down!" Tony yelled, looking at his friend for back up. "I can shoot you three assholes in the head!"_

_"Whoa," Dave raised his hands up, looking through the bottles on the shelf. "No one's shooting anyone, right Rick? We're just friends having a drink. Where's the good stuff?"_

_Rick watched as Dave unscrewed a bottle cap and began pouring himself a glass of something. These men were danger, that had become clear in an instant. A danger to them, a danger to their women, to the kids. And if something wasn't done soon, then they were going to have an even bigger situation on their hands. It was hard enough as it was living with the walkers. "Our farm is over crowded, I think it's best that you keep looking." That was Rick's way of telling them to get out._

_"And where do you suggest we do that?" Dave asked, his tone no longer friendly._

_"I hear Nebraska's nice."_

_"Nebraska?" Dave muttered, laughing quietly to himself. "This guy..." His hand moved down to reach for his own gun, but Rick had already noticed this, and fired a shot from his gun hitting Dave straight through the head, and sending him to the floor of the bar. Before Tony could react, Rick's arm bent backwards and fired three shots into the larger man, also making him fall to the floor, feeling the impact when he hit it._

_His hands shook as he lowered the gun. They hadn't been walkers, but he had killed them anyway. He repeated one phrase in his head over and over again as Glenn and Hershel stared at him._

_It was kill, or be killed._

* * *

"Oh, God Lori, what happened?" Stef asked, sitting down beside Lori at the breakfast table, and immediately noticing the cut down her forehead and her lip.

"Car accident," Lori answered quietly. "I went out to try and find Rick and the other two, a walker crossed out in front of me. Didn't even see him."

Stef noticed Lori stare at her for a minute, and then the jacket she was wearing that belonged to Daryl. No doubt still pissed off that Daryl didn't go for her. "Damn. If you'd asked, I would have come with you, y'know?"

"Then two of us would be injured," Lori shook her head. "Besides, looks like you had plenty to keep you occupied," Lori nodded towards her jacket as she got up and began to start on the dirty dishes sitting in a pile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stef asked, irritated. She hadn't forgotten all the times at the quarry Lori had skipped her own tasks to sneak off somewhere with Shane.

"I... I don't know." Lori pushed the plates to the side again, and sat down with a long, drawn out sigh. "I'm sorry. I just want Rick to come back in one piece."

"I know you do." Stef tried her best to give Lori a reassuring smile, even although the guys had been gone a while now. Hopefully nothing too serious, and they would be back with them in no time. For Lori's sake. For Beth's sake. For everyone. "And I might not be the preferred person, but I am here if you need me for anything."

"Thanks, Stef," Lori returned her small smile. It was nice that someone was on her side. She had been feeling like most of the world was against her at the minute. Even Rick was becoming distant. As for Shane, nothing had been the same since the C.D.C.

"Is the baby OK?" Stef asked quietly, checking no one else was within hearing distance.

"It's OK, everyone knows now anyway I think. Hopefully, we don't really have the proper medical equipment to check, but it was more my head that took the blow."

"Does Carl know?"

"Thanks to Shane and his big mouth, yeah." Lori nodded, still wishing he could have heard it from her properly rather than how he did last night. "He took it better than I thought. I think he was just annoyed he was one of the last to know."

"He's had to go through a lot. Grow up fast." So much about him had changed since the day Stef first met them on the highway. "I think he'll make an excellent big brother." Carl was so protective of his family, even although he wasn't yet the most capable of defending them, he damn well tried his best. "How's Beth doing?"

"Not so good," Lori replied sadly, looking towards the room she was sleeping in. The one that had pretty much become a hospital room for Carl, Daryl and now Beth. "She's in some kind of catatonic shock. Needs Hershel, very soon."

"Hopefully he comes back sooner rather than later then. Daryl's going to go looking this afternoon if they still haven't come back."

"Really?" Lori asked, and if they were in any other situation, Stef would almost have laughed at her surprised tone. "I asked him yesterday, but-"

"I know. He told me." Stef fiddled with a loose thread on Daryl's jacket, before she spoke again, quieter this time. "Daryl wasn't being selfish. Don't you think he deserves a break?"

It seemed to pain Lori, but eventually she nodded her head. "Yeah, I didn't mean it. Like I said, I was just worried. I know what he did. He went out there every day looking for Sophia. And he never really got any thanks for it."

"I think finding Sophia was enough thanks for him. Made it worthwhile."

"You really care about him, don't you?" Lori offered the younger woman a genuine smile this time. If anyone had asked her if that would have been possible at the quarry she would have probably just laughed at them.

Stef gave a quick nod of her head. "I do."

Both women turned their heads around at the sound of a car approaching. There were only three people out there who knew where the farm was, and could have found it with ease. Hopefully it wasn't just some strangers who had stumbled across them by accident. They exchanged a hopeful look as they both got up from the table and ran outside. A flood of relief washed over them both, as they seen all three men they had been looking for exit the vehicle.

Lori quickly approached Rick and wrapped her arms around him, pulling back to check he was alright. Everyone else had gathered around them.

"Prep the back room for surgery," Hershel instructed Patricia, as he passed her to enter the house. Who was hurt that needed the surgery?

"Are you hurt?" Lori asked urgently, her eyes scanning over her husband.

Before he had a chance to answer, T-Dog spoke from where he was observing, He was staring at something in the back of the car, something Stef couldn't quite see. "Guys? Who the hell is that?" There was someone else with them?

Glenn kicked at the dirt from where he was standing and shook his head tiredly. "That's Randall."

* * *

_As it had turned out, Dave and Tony were most definitely not alone. In fact, they had brought what seemed like a whole army with them. After learning of the death of their friends in the bar, even although Rick had tried his best to justify it, they had started a gun war with the other men. And after Rick, Hershel and Glenn had spent almost half an hour in the alleyways, keeping out of the line of fire, they were finally ready to try and sneak back to their car. And they had almost made it, before they heard the damn screams._

_"Help me, please help me!" _

_"Who the hell was that?" Rick hissed, worried the noise was going to draw even more walkers than the noise of the gunfire already had done._

_"It came from over that way!" Glenn pointed in the direction of the noise, and the men ran over, wincing when they spotted who had been making the noise. One of what had most likely been Dave and Tony's group had fallen off a roof, and been impaled straight onto a fence spike. It had gone right through his leg, and he was screaming out in pain._

_"You gotta shut up," Rick snarled, moving closer to inspect the damage that had been done. There were walkers closing in on them from every direction, and the boys screams were telling them loud and clear where they could find their next meal. _

_"Please, just get me out of here."_

_The men quickly discussed the situation for a while, trying to figure out how best to proceed. There was no way that they had time to remove a part of the fence and get back to the farm to perform proper medical procedures. There was only one thing that they were going to be able to do. The leg was going to have to be pulled up and off the spike, and then he was going to have to come back to the farm with them. Just what they needed._

* * *

Everyone had gathered around the table, as Hershel, Rick and Glenn began to explain how they had managed to come home with someone extra. "We couldn't have left him behind. He would have bled out," Hershel explained, back from finishing his work on the boy. His leg wasn't in good shape at all, but he was far better off than he would have been if they had left him impaled on that fence.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked, making the men realize that they didn't quite have a solid plan as of yet.

"He's got a lot of nerve damage, so he won't be on his feet for some time," Hershel replied.

"I think we'll give him a canteen, and once his leg is healed enough, Shane and I can drop him out on the road somewhere, let him get away. We don't have any more resources for another member of the group." Rick wasn't happy about the idea of keeping him anyway. He had been a part of Dave and Tony's group, and things hadn't ended well for them. He wasn't sure if Randall knew he had shot them, but probably best not to leave him around to find out.

"Isn't that a death sentence for him?" Andrea protested, raising her eyebrows at Rick's lack of compassion. Rick was usually up for helping anyone, even going back for Merle when everyone else thought it was a stupid idea. "Leaving him out there with all the walkers?"

"I think he has a fighting chance," Rick shrugged, not feeling up to facing anymore problems at the minute.

"What age is he?" Stef asked quietly from the doorway.

"I'm not even sure," Rick sighed. "About eighteen or so I think."

"He's just a kid then Rick. Maybe we should give him some time, see how he turns out?" Stef proposed, although everyone else apart from Dale and Andrea, who nodded, seemed to think that she was crazy. Even Daryl narrowed his eyes at her suggestion.

"Was a stupid idea, bringing him back here in the first place!" Shane was going to be the one to make a scene again. "Even if you blindfolded him, you practically took one of them hostage! They're probably coming looking for him right now."

"No one is looking," Rick snapped back, getting sick of Shane and his shit. They had left Randall to die, so he didn't see why they would be coming for him now. Obviously he wasn't that valuable to them.

"Still think we should post a guard," T-Dog offered from where he was sitting.

"Why don't I go and get him some flowers and candy too?" Shane mumbled as he began to make his way out of the room. He turned around quickly and pointed his finger accusingly at the group. "Y'all are in fantasy land, again!"

"This is my farm," Hershel reminded him, stepping forward. "My rules."

"Whatever," Shane left the dining area, followed by the rest of the group as they all went their own ways. Randall had been put into the barn where the walkers had been kept, while they all tried to figure out what to do with him.

* * *

Stef stared over at the barn from where she was standing on the porch as she sensed someone coming up behind her. Daryl rested his arms on the porch rail and stared out into the distance. "Ya should keep away from that barn," Daryl suggested, bringing up his fingernail to chew on it. He was nervous she would ask why. Because he cared about her? Because he didn't want her to get hurt? He couldn't tell her that shit.

"Daryl, he's injured, and barely an adult. I don't think he can do a hell of a lot of damage." He'd need food. Water. They couldn't just leave him in there like that.

"Ya don' know what he's capable of." Daryl hadn't gotten the full story from the men who had came back from the bar yet, but he had gotten the basics. He had been with a group of men, dangerous, from how Rick had described them. And there was nothing to say the kid was any different than the rest.

"But we're not going to find out keeping him in there like that."

"We're gonna have a talk with him, see what he knows." Although that was what Rick had suggested, he knew a talk was not necessarily what he had meant. They would get information out of the son of a bitch one way or the other. "Just keep a distance until we check it out, OK?"

Stef gave the barn one final look before she turned to walk away. "Yeah. Fine."

But she hadn't promised anything.


	26. Chapter 26

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC's.**_

* * *

"You think we're doing the right thing?" Stef asked, as Dale spooned a small amount of vegetables onto the plate that he was holding onto. He gave the barn a long look.

"Yeah. I mean, if Rick and Shane are gonna let him go, then he needs some food." The plan was to take Randall out somewhere and set him free. They would blindfold him on the journey, and that way hopefully he would have no idea how to get back. Except his leg wasn't healed properly yet, and he would have a hard time running if he was in danger. Maybe Rick could still be talked out of it. "Needs some energy, or he'll have no chance against the walkers."

"I guess so. It's just the last time me and you had an idea..." Stef paused, thinking back to the incident with Shane in the woods and the events that had unfolded as a result, "..it didn't turn out so well for us."

Dale couldn't help but give a tiny laugh. "Hopefully this one will just be between you and me. I told Rick. About what happened with Shane. And what I think he did with Otis."

"What did he say?"

"Not very much," Dale sighed quietly.

"You don't think he believed you?"

"I don't think he wanted to. But I could see in his eyes. He knows something isn't right with Shane." He made sure there was a reasonable amount of food on the plate, even although the camp hardly had much left for themselves, and fetched some of the water they had left. After the well incident, nobody had been too keen on drinking the water Hershel's farm provided, but Maggie had allowed them to use one of the other wells for the time being. "You sure you don't want me to take it in?"

"I got it," Stef reassured herself and Dale as she took the stuff from his hands. "Just keep watch, make sure no-one's around." She was under strict instruction to stay away from Randall, but it wasn't going to stop her. Luckily, Dale had once again been willing to support her.

"That I can do." Dale watched as Stef made her way towards the barn, as he followed behind. After T-Dog had suggested posting a guard, they had to wait until it was one of their turns until they could take food to the boy. Andrea seemed like the only other person who might have been talked into helping them, but she was still close with Shane at the minute, and it would have been too risky to ask.

Stef's hands fiddled with the door of the barn, trying to figure out the best way to open it, after Shane had pretty much broken it down before. She pushed it slightly, so she could see in, and her heart leapt into her throat when she saw another figure standing in front of Randall. After adjusting to the darker interior, she realized it wasn't another adult that had been visiting Randall.

"Carl, what are you doing in here?" The younger boy looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he stared back at her wide eyed. His father or mother wasn't anywhere around, and he seemed to be alone apart from Randall.

"I..I.. was just," he stuttered as he tried to come up with an explanation, but eventually gave up and let out a long sigh.

"It's not safe for you in here, sweetie." Stef moved beside Carl and gave him a gentle nudge in the direction of the door. Daryl had pretty much said the same thing before, but yet here she was, defying his wishes anyway. Hopefully it was worthwhile. "You should get out of here before your dad or Shane come back. Go on."

Carl nodded and glanced quickly at Randall again before he left the barn. Stef turned with a sigh and crouched down in front of, but still a small distance away from the boy chained up to the wall. His leg wound was visible from where she was, and looked like it would be causing him a fair amount of pain. "Here's some food for you." She pushed the plate forward and he gave her a grateful smile, which made her feel even worse about the situation he was currently in. "Figured you could use it, keep your strength up."

"Thanks," Randall tried his best to eat what was on the plate with his hands tied together. Not as easy as he had thought. "The kid wasn't doing any harm. I didn't mean to get him in trouble with his parents. He's just curious, I guess."

"I'm not his mom, I don't know where his parents are at the minute," Stef answered, getting up and taking a few steps back to lean against the other side of the wall. A conversation probably wasn't the best idea at the minute, but Randall seemed harmless for the time being, the way Rick and Shane had fixed it so he could barely move, let alone escape. "How are you feeling?"

"Not good," Randall answered honestly, taking a look at his leg. He wondered why this woman seemed so concerned about his wellbeing. He hadn't exactly received much hospitality from the other people he had come across in this group. "So, uh... are you guys letting me stay here?"

Stef had to think about her answer for a minute. What was she supposed to tell him? Rick and Shane were planning on taking him out somewhere and leaving him, with barely anything to eat or drink or defend himself with? "I'm not sure."

"Please," Randall sounded almost like he was begging to let him stay with the group. Stef couldn't stay in here much longer. She would feel too bad if Rick did choose to take him away.

"I'm sorry, it's not up to me." Stef gave the boy a sad smile as she turned back for the exit, and pulled the door firmly closed when she was outside, before heading back over to where Dale was keeping watch. "I'll be back in a bit, I'm going to find Rick," she called up to him, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

From his viewing point in the distance, Daryl only shook his head, and involuntarily growled from deep in his throat as he watched her leave the barn and go back to Dale. This whole new relationship thing was going to be the death of him. He didn't want to care, but he couldn't help it. Nothing had ever affected him like this, and he had to admit, he was almost scared of it.

* * *

"Rick?" Stef called quietly, picking up her pace to catch up with him.

"What's up?" Rick asked, turning round to give her his attention.

"Have you uh... figured out what you're going to do with Randall yet?" She tried to sound as uninterested as possible, but couldn't hide all the concern from her voice.

"Shane and I are going to take him out of here, find somewhere relatively safe and drop him there." That's what he had been preparing to do at the minute, as he held in his hands a blindfold and a set of earphones and a music player Hershel had given him to borrow that had belonged to Beth. Beth wasn't exactly in a fit state to refuse them use of it.

"You don't think maybe you should give him a bit more time?" Stef thought about his leg, but decided against mentioning it and letting Rick know she had gone to visit him. "I mean, from what I've heard he was hurt pretty bad."

Rick smiled softly at her worry. She cared too much about everyone, even strangers. "Stef, his group were dangerous."

"Maybe he's not like that?" He seemed harmless enough from her observations.

"And maybe he is," Rick replied on a sigh. "Shane thinks it's best that he doesn't stay here, and I think he has a point."

"Why did you bring him back then? Just to send him away?" She bit down on her lip and mentally debated her next words. "I think I'd rather have him around than Shane." Rick froze, but didn't say anything in reply. "He's not the same Rick. I know you can see it. Dale sees it too."

As Rick turned to walk away again Stef folded her arms across her chest, and glared at the back of his head. "You think it's more dangerous for us now?"

"Huh?"

"There must have been what, like thirty walkers in that barn?" Stef nodded her head over in the direction of where the bodies had been burned of all the people Hershel and his family had been keeping in storage. "And you were all up for negotiating with Hershel about that, keeping them there. Hell, you were even bringing them in!" She was starting to get irritated that apart from Dale, no one else seemed to care about what happened to the boy. "But you think one kid, who can barely even stand up, is going to be more dangerous?"

"I told you, his group are." Rick didn't want another repeat of the shootout that had happened at the bar to occur, especially nowhere near his family and friends.

"You said it yourself Rick!" No one is looking for him."

But Rick wasn't completely sure that was the case, and it wasn't something he wanted to wait and see if it happened or not. "Alright, say we let him be a part of the group. How can you guarantee he won't leave and find his group, lead them back to the farm and destroy everything we've worked hard to keep together?"

"We can't," Stef simply shrugged which made Rick raise his eyebrows. "But we can't guarantee he will either."

"It's not a chance I'm willing to take. I'm sorry Stef."

She watched as Rick's figure got further and further away before disappearing into the barn with Randall. She knew there was no point trying to talk to Shane about it. She might as well have had a conversation with a brick wall. And Daryl probably wasn't going to see things the same way as her either. Frustratedly, she kicked at the ground with her boots before she heard someone coming from behind her.

"Have you seen Maggie?" Lori asked her urgently, holding what appeared to be a dinner knife. If that was her new chosen weapon then she could be in a lot of trouble in the future.

"No, not recently," Stef tried to recall the last time she had actually seen Maggie in the last twenty four hours. Most of the time she had been with her sister, so it was odd she had disappeared somewhere.

Lori let out a shaky breath as her eyes scanned the area around them. "I told her to get away for a bit, that me and Andrea could keep an eye on Beth."

"What's up?" Stef asked, sensing something was very wrong from Lori's tone and actions. She tried to focus her attention on the situation at present as much as possible, but in the distance she noticed Shane join Rick as they both dragged Randall out of the barn and towards one of the vehicles. "Is Beth OK?"

"I think she was going to kill herself."

* * *

Rick parked the car in the middle of the road and got out, followed by Shane. "Thought we were going further out?" Shane asked, taking in their surroundings. They had only driven around ten miles from the farm, and were in a pretty exposed area. He wasn't entirely bothered about what happened to Randall, but he hadn't lost all of his humanity. Somewhere a little more out of view might have been better. "Why are we stoppin'?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Rick took a few steps away and turned his attention out onto the fields, "and I wanted to wait until now. I heard what really happened at the school." Dale had told him his theory, and also what had happened out in the forest with Dale, Shane and Stef. And as much as he didn't want to think his friend was capable of doing such things, he knew he was. "Was it to survive?"

He wanted Shane to deny everything. To tell him Dale had been wrong. But deep down he was aware they would only have been lies. "Yeah," Shane answered honestly, tired of hiding it all. Most people had him figured out, and he was aware they knew. He just hadn't been able to admit it until now. "One of us wasn't gonna make it out. Had to be him. Quick shot to the leg and Carl lives." Shane would have gotten on so much better himself. "Reality is, he had no business being here, there, whatever." Shane had taken it on himself to protect Carl.

"You don't think I would've done it?" Rick wasn't even sure he would have, but if Carl's life depended on it, then there was no question. "You don't think I could keep Lori and Carl safe? Or _my _baby?" Rick noticed the change in Shane's expression when Rick emphasized the my. It would be his baby, whether Shane was happy with it or not.

"Didn't say that," Shane replied firmly. "But you can't just be the good guy and expect to live." He was well aware that no one in the camp seen him as the good guy anymore. He was starting to understand why. "Not anymore."

"I'm not the good guy anymore." Here he was about to drop a kid off out in the middle of nowhere with danger around every corner. Less than a week ago he killed two living humans. He wasn't exactly an angel either. "I would have done anything to save Carl's life." Rick turned to face his friend and studied him carefully. Everyone was beginning to think he was trouble, but Rick didn't want to bring himself to see it. "Lori says you're dangerous. Stef thinks so too. And Dale doesn't want you around the camp."

He took a couple of steps towards Shane and looked him directly in the eye. If he was going to stay, things were going to have to change. "I'm not going to let you be dangerous anymore. Not to them, not to me, not anymore."

Shane dropped his eyes to the ground, much to Rick's annoyance.

"How about you look at me?" When Shane met his gaze again, Rick brought up the one thing he had been meaning to discuss with Shane since he had found out. "You and Lori..." he had to pause, the words still making his stomach churn slightly. "I get what happened. When I figured it out, and I figured it out pretty quick, I wanted to break your jaw and let you choke on your teeth." Rick struggled to find the words he wanted. "I didn't. And that... that wasn't weakness. That took everything."

Shane remained silent, and Rick wasn't sure if he was glad or not. Maybe if they exploded at each other and Rick could get everything out of his system it would make him feel better. Or maybe not. But as Rick continued, Shane only took in his words. "So my wife. My son... and my unborn child. I'm going to stay alive to keep them alive. You don't love her."

Shane's eyes flickered away from Rick, scared he wouldn't be able to keep himself under control much longer. He did love Lori. He knew that he did. Loved her like crazy.

"You might think that you do, but you don't," Rick jabbed his finger into Shane's chest. "The only way you and me are going to move on, is if you accept everything that I just said. And we go forward with that understanding." What would Rick do if Shane refused and continued to behave the way he was now? Would Rick need to kill him? Would he even be able to bring himself to do that?

Shane waited until Rick had finished before he attempted to put his side of the story across. "There were a couple of weird stories on the news, incidents here and there." Everything had been a blur in the first week or so when the world had gone to hell. "Everything just happened so quick. Two weeks later, and I came to visit you in the hospital. There were soldiers shooting _people _Rick, not walkers." He took a deep breath as he remembered the day he had tried to get Rick out. Tried and failed. Maybe things would have been different if they had escaped. Things wouldn't have gotten so fucked up. "I tried to get you out, but I knew we weren't going to make it. I need you to know..."

"What?" Rick asked, as Shane hesitated to finish his sentence.

"I would never have looked at her before that." Rick had been his best friend. He liked to think that maybe, just a part of that was still there. But mostly he knew it was wishful thinking. Things would never be the same between them. "Brother, if I could take it all back... I would."

Rick turned away again, not wanting to go any further with this conversation. He had said everything that he needed to for now. Now they had to find somewhere to leave Randall and get back to the farm. "I'm gonna check the roads."

* * *

Lori, Andrea and Stef all stood in the kitchen, listening to Maggie and Beth yelling in her bedroom. When Lori had finally found Maggie and explained what had happened earlier, when Beth had hidden the dinner knife under her blanket, it didn't go down too well with the older sister.

"You think we should do something?" Stef asked, hoping the argument didn't get too out of control. "Where's Hershel anyway?"

"Maggie didn't want him to know," Lori explained, sitting up on one of the kitchen counters and popping a piece of cucumber into her mouth. Stef wondered momentarily when Hershel had allowed them free use of his kitchen and food supply. Lori seemed to have wasted no time in taking advantage of it. "It's a family affair."

"When Beth stops fighting, then it's time to worry," Andrea knew exactly how Beth was feeling. She had wanted to do the exact same thing since Amy had died. "This could have been handled better." Both of the other women looked at Andrea as she gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "You shouldn't have taken the knife away." It might have sounded crueler than she had been going for, but in her opinion, it would have been the right thing to do.

"Why the hell not?" Stef asked, half disgusted at Andrea's suggestion. She wasn't sure where her irritated mood had come from, but the quicker it disappeared, probably the better.

"Like Dale taking my gun away, Lori, it shouldn't have been your decision. She has to choose to live," Andrea answered simply, almost like they weren't discussing a persons life.

"It doesn't mean that I can't stop her, or let her know that we care." Lori had thought they had been getting somewhere with Beth earlier. Now that she was finally talking again, she thought maybe she would come back to her old self. Clearly, she couldn't have been more wrong.

"That has nothing to do with it," Andrea snapped back, fed up of Lori acting like a saint in the camp. Not everyone had it as easy as her. "She only has so many choices, and for her suicide is the best one."

"That's not an option," Stef mumbled, thinking back to the C.D.C. She had been sad when Jacqui stayed, but a small part of her had been angry too. That she had just given up on fighting. If they had stayed there, they would have missed so much. Glenn would never have found Maggie. She would never have been able to get closer to Daryl. Lori would have never known she was going to become a mom again. "I didn't realize Dr. Jenner had escaped and came with us." Andrea sounded exactly like him at the minute.

"I came through it," she pointed out, although the pain of losing Amy was still strong as ever.

"And became such a productive member of the group," Lori muttered, clearly becoming frustrated with the conversation too.

"Look, maybe we should let Maggie handle this her own way?" Stef suggested, noticing Andrea glare at Lori after her latest remark. The last thing the group needed was more tension between the members. They were barely hanging together as it was. "Maybe we should just stay out of it."

"No, wait Stef," Andrea wasn't going to let the last comment slide as she turned her attention to Lori. "I contribute. I help keep this place safe. I'm sorry, but what would you have me do?"

"Oh, I don't know," Lori let out an exaggerated sigh. "There's plenty of laundry to go around."

Andrea snorted quietly, not quite sure that she could believe what she was hearing. She had done the laundry back at the quarry when Lori had been sneaking off with Shane and she had the nerve to bring this up now. "Everything falls apart and you're in my face over skipping laundry?"

"It puts a burden on the rest of us." Lori wanted to stop, but she couldn't help herself. Andrea needed to be put in her place. She had been treating this more like a holiday than anything else. "You don't care about anyone but yourself. You sit on top of that RV, working on your tan with a shotgun in your lap!"

"Lori, why don't we just relax. This isn't what we need right now." What Stef wouldn't give for something to go right for them at the minute, just once.

"No, Stef. She shot Daryl, for God's sake, of all people you shouldn't stick up for her!" Stef threw her hands up defeatedly and sat down on one of the dining chairs.

"I am on watch against walkers. That's all that matters." Andrea was tired of the work that the women were expected to do. Sure she had made a mistake with Daryl, but she was more than capable of looking out for the group. She just needed to get them to let her prove it.

"Trying to create a life worth living, is what matters. You're not the only one who takes out walkers, Andrea. We all do it. I went after Rick, and I took out two."

"After crashing Maggie's car," Andrea reminded her with a tiny smirk on her face. "Ever apologize for that?"

"Oh, please stop," Stef mumbled to no one in particular as she rubbed her temples, trying to get rid of the continually growing headache. Why were women so bitchy?

"You're insane," Andrea pointed accusingly at Lori as the two women continued to bicker. "And so damn self-centered, the way you take it all for granted."

"My husband is out there for the hundredth time. And my son was shot!" Andrea wouldn't know how that felt. She may have lost Amy, but the thought of losing a child was almost unbearable. "So don't you dare tell me I'm self centered."

"It's alright for you, isn't it? Your husband came back from the dead. And your son too. And now you've got a baby on the way? The rest of us have piled up our losses!"

"We've all suffered," Stef tried to reason, but it was no use as Andrea continued her verbal assault on Lori.

"So keep on, acting like the Queen Bee. Laying down rules for everyone but yourself. Go and tell that little girl that everything will be OK. She'll get a husband, a son, a baby," Andrea paused for a second, "a boyfriend." Lori's face grew slightly paler. Did everyone really know about her and Shane? Had she not done as good of a job hiding it as she thought? "All she has to do is look on the bright side."


	27. Chapter 27

**The place Daryl and Stef are in this chapter is the same place Rick and Hershel had a talk in one of the earlier Season 2 episodes, the place that had the beautiful views :)**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except from my OC's.**_

* * *

They had gone more than the 18 miles out that Hershel had suggested to drop of Randall. But something Stef and Dale had said to Rick had stuck and he wanted to find somewhere that Randall had at least half a chance to survive in. That way he wouldn't feel completely responsible if he was killed. Shane didn't think it was a good idea again, but that was more common than not these days. Eventually, the men had come across what used to be a Public Works Department building. It seemed empty enough, and as good of place as any to drop off the boy. Once Rick and Shane had taken out the two walkers wandering around, Shane drove the car in, and opened the boot, with Rick assisting to get Randall out.

The took the blindfold off him, and he looked confused more than anything else. "The hell is this?" Randall asked, noticing they were nowhere near the farm anymore. And then he realized what they were going to do. "Come on! Don't be stupid!" They weren't going to kill him, but instead leave him for someone else to do it. His leg still hurt like hell and he wouldn't be up to running too far. He needed to convince these men to take him back. "I owe you guys! I can help protect what you got.." He had become pretty experienced with weapons recently, surely he could be of some use? "Why'd you save my life... just to kill me by leaving me here?"

Rick watched as he struggled around on the ground, trying to move some with his hands and his feet tied together. Stef had pretty much asked the same thing. Maybe they should have just left him on the fence. Saved medical supplies. It might have been cruel, yes, but wasn't this? "One guy cant make it alone!" Randall was becoming more and more stressed out by the minute, and if they weren't careful, walkers in the distance might hear him. "That's why I was with those dudes! I was alone! I'm not like them!" Rick tried to ignore him, as he tossed him a knife, and turned away, beginning to follow Shane back to the car.

Randall was running out of ways of convincing them to let him come back. "I used to watch football and screw around on the internet... I lived with my mom!" Rick screwed his face up in the distance. That made him sound so young, so innocent. "I lost her like you lost people!" Maybe if he told them he knew one of the group it might help? "I went to school with Maggie for Gods sakes!" The two men walking away both paused and turned around, so something must have worked. He continued trying to think of things. "I went to church, rode the bench on varsity baseball..."

"You went to school with Maggie?!" Rick yelled, as he started to make his way back towards the boy on the ground. That was going to fuck up the whole damn plan. "Did you? Answer the question!"

Out of everything, that's what he had picked up on? "I... she didn't know me... didn't even know I existed!" Randall probably did have a crush on her at one point, every guy on the school probably had. "I mean I knew her... I knew who her dad was." Hershel was probably the reason no one liked to ask her out, being the protective father and all. "There is no way i would ever do anything to hurt her... or her family... or you or your people!" He wasn't that kind of guy. This world just turned everything to shit. "I'm not like the guys I was with."

"Jesus, he knows where the farm is Rick," Shane finally spoke up from beside Rick, confirming what he was already thinking. "He knows! Say he finds his way back to his people..." Shane seemed agitated more than usual, and Rick watched him carefully, hoping he wasn't about to do something stupid. But sadly, he was. It wasn't with a moment to spare that Rick caught Shane pull out his gun, and just in time he managed to reach over and knock his aim off, so the bullet he fired missed Randall.

"Shane, no!" Rick took a step back as Shane turned to him with a questioning look. "Not just now." He needed time to think about this. Shooting him wasn't exactly what he had been going for.

"When Rick?" Shane sat down beside one of the old vehicles and dropped his gun to the ground. He knew exactly what would happen. They would end up taking Randall back to the farm, and someone, most likely Dale or Stef, would talk Rick out of killing him. And then it would be another mouth to feed, another body to look out for. "When?"

"When I've had a chance to think about it," Rick replied, mentally planning his next move. Did they just go over to him, tie him up again and take him back? What would they do once they got back? How would he decide to kill him or not? Toss a god damn coin?

"Don't let him kill me!" Randall begged from the ground, irritating the two men who were still sorting themselves out. "Please don't." Rick silenced him, needing time to think.

"We're going back," he finally decided, immediately noticing the disagreement from Shane. He hadn't said anything, but it was written all over his face. "It's a mans life. I need a night to think it through." Maybe there was some way Randall could be useful. Someway that he could stick around.

Shane pushed himself up onto his feet. "You're gonna bring this piece of garbage... who shot at you? Rick, he ran with men who tried to kill you!" Once again, Shane just couldn't understand. First the walkers in the barn, and now this boy, who had put Rick, Hershel and Glenn in danger, and he still couldn't see the threat to their people? "You gonna bring him back to where Lori sleeps?"

Rick had to keep himself back. Of course Shane had to bring up Lori again. It seemed to be his favorite fucking subject. "He'll be locked up in the barn, unless you bust it open!"

Shane shook his head, knowing that now was not the time and the place to go through all that again. What he had done at the barn had been for everyone else. For Rick too. "Don't start this shit again."

"Stop acting like you know all the rules, Shane. There are no rules. We're lost."

"No, man, I know exactly where I am," Shane moved so he was standing only inches away from Rick. Neither one of them was feeling like discussing this one. In fact, Rick wanted nothing more than to take that smug smile straight off Shane's face. "You know... I don't think you can do it Rick. I don't think you can keep them safe."

That was the final remark that Rick needed to do what he had been wanting to do for quite some time now. Before he could stop himself, his fist had connected with Shane's jaw, sending Shane back a couple of steps as he had been surprised at the blow. Shane regained his composure quickly, and slammed his forehead against Rick's.

Randall watched in disbelief from his position. Was now really the time for this? The two men had pretty much gotten into a full on fight now, with fists connecting with other body parts here and there, and things being thrown around in the air. Randall noticed the knife still lying on the ground only a short distance away. If only there was someway he could reach it, maybe he could free himself, and get away. He didn't know where to, but this group was starting to seem like a bad idea.

The two men seemed to have stop fighting for a minute as they both regained their breath. Rick watched his friend, if you could call him that anymore, warily as they both stopped attacking each other. Maybe now that they had gotten that over things could be straightened out more effectively. But Shane already had his gun out and aiming at Randall again in a matter of seconds. Rick pushed his hand away so he couldn't make the shot. "You're not doing this. You don't get to make these calls anymore. I won't let you."

Shane suddenly seen red. He had protected these people, well before Rick had come back from the dead. He had every right to make the decisions too. He reached out beside him and grabbed the first thing he could find, picking up a large metal crowbar. Using all the strength he had left, he threw it straight in the direction of Rick, narrowly missing him and hitting a window nearby instead.

And that's when Rick realized. Shane had just tried to kill him.

But before he really had the time to think about it, he heard the all too familiar groans coming from behind him, where the window had been smashed. Looks like they weren't as alone as they had thought.

Randall had finally managed to get to the knife and was now desperately trying to cut through the ropes. But out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement. Was it that idiot with a gun going to try and shoot him, again? Not quite. It was a walker. He panicked then, trying to get the rope cut quicker. She was coming at him at an alarming pace. Eventually, he managed to free his feet, enough so that he could stand, and back away a few steps. He struggled for a moment to get his legs over the rope, but once he was free, he waited until the dead woman staggered towards him, before plunging the knife into her head several times.

Once he made sure there were no more surrounding him, he looked for a way out, some sort of escape from here. And he could see the gates in the distance. But before he managed to even make it halfway, there was a hand grabbing onto his shirt.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Rick asked, making sure Randall couldn't escape just as easy as he had hoped to.

"What do you expect me to do?" Randall asked. Was he meant to wait and die while the two men fought? "Please just let me go man. I'm not gonna tell anyone anything." He knew that's what the men were worried about. "You wanna stay here? Help the guy that just tried to bash your head in?" Lori had said he was dangerous. Stef had said he was dangerous. And even Randall had picked up on it in this short time apparently. "Those walkers out there, they don't see us. We can get out of here. Let me have a gun. I'll help you. I'll show you." He wasn't going to let him have a gun. No way. That was too risky.

He could still see Shane trapped in the school bus he had managed to get himself into. The fear that had formed on his face. He gave him one quick look, before turning away with Randall. "Lets go."

But every step he took away hurt him. He knew there was no way he'd be able to live with just leaving him there. Like with what Shane had done to Otis. He wasn't that kind of man. And so, he had found himself instructing Randall not to drive away once they were back at the car, but instead back towards the school bus. He yelled at Shane to get to the back of the school bus, as Randall tried to park as close to the escape doors as he could. Within seconds, Shane was down the other side of the bus, and had kicked the door open, jumping straight in the back window of the car.

Randall wasted no time in speeding away, and soon they were back on the road to the farm. "Whoo!" he yelled, taking his hands off the steering wheel, angering Rick even more. "You see what we did there? You see that?"

"Just keep driving," Rick instructed, looking at Shane in the mirror. Killing Randall wasn't what he had wanted, but this wasn't either. He had to learn, Rick and his men were still in charge. And Shane seemed to know that too. It was time for Randall to go back to the boot for now.

* * *

Maggie sat down on the bottom of her sisters bed, having gotten over the initial anger that Beth had tried to kill herself. Shit had happened to her too, and it was something she would never even consider. "What would mom think, knowing she raised such a coward?" Maggie couldn't hide all the bitterness from her voice. She was upset, pissed, and thought Beth would have known better. "What about dad?"

Beth let out a humorless laugh. "He's clueless. He had us waiting for a cure." Maybe if he hadn't, and she had gotten to mourn her mother properly the first time she had died, things wouldn't have felt so bad.

"He was wrong," Maggie said sadly, knowing that she too had been hoping for a miracle for a while. "What about Jimmy?"

"We went out for three months and now I'm married to him?" Beth didn't choose to be stuck with him here. She wasn't even all that interested in him, but Hershel had kept him safe since the outbreak began. But he didn't deserve to have a say in what she did with her life.

"And me? You could do that to me?" Maggie had always thought her sister would be there for her, through everything. Not just looking for a way out. "I can't take another funeral." That was all that seemed to happen these days. Otis. Their mom. Shawn. How many more were they going to have to go through?

"We can't avoid it," Beth shrugged her shoulders, deciding death was imminent in this new world. And then an idea struck her. If Maggie was so pissed at her for wanting a way out, maybe they could go out together. "What are we waiting for? We should both do it, at the same time. Help each other. We can do it so peacefully." It seemed like a great idea in her head.

"Stop talking like that," Maggie knew her sister wasn't thinking clearly. The grief was making the decisions for her. It wasn't something she would think about doing.

"Our choice. And then it would be over with. Either that, or we'll be forced to do it when the farm and this house is overrun. No one can protect us.. Rick will save his family and the others too. We're alone. You, me, Patricia with only dad and Jimmy against a whole world of those things. I don't wanna be gutted. I wanna go in this bed tonight.. with you beside me. _Please_!"

Maggie just looked at her sister in disbelief. Some of what she said had made sense, but not all of it was true. They weren't alone. She had Glenn. And had made friends with some of the other camp members. She sat and watched her sister quietly, until Andrea opened the door. Maggie quickly got up and stormed out of the room, trusting the other woman to keep an eye on her sister.

Beth sighed as Andrea came into the room and watched her silently. "Aren't you gonna say something?" Everyone else had tried to talk her out of this, Andrea might as well have taken a shot too. But she didn't. Instead, she walked over to the other side of the room and unlocked the door.

"Is this what you want?" Beth looked up at her confused. Andrea knew exactly what she was going through, and no matter what Stef and Lori had said, she needed to make her choice. So she was giving her the option. "The pain doesn't go away. You just make room for it."

* * *

Rick had ended up bringing the kid back. He didn't quite fully explain what had happened wherever they had taken him, but both him and Shane had various cuts and bruises on their faces. The hadn't spoken one word to each other since they had came back, and Rick had simply told Daryl to get as much information out of the boy as possible. "I told you!" Randall groaned for the hundredth time, as Daryl delivered another painful kick to his stomach.

"Ya ain't told me shit," Daryl growled, deciding this was a good moment to let out any stress he had been holding in.

"I barely knew them... I... met them on the road," Randall stuttered, trying to speak properly with the blood in his mouth.

"How many in your group?" When Randall didn't immediately answer, Daryl pulled out his knife and bent down so he could reach the boys legs.

Randall swallowed nervously as Daryl placed the point of the knife against his skin. That sure as hell wouldn't feel good on his leg. "Come on man! Thirty! About thirty guys!"

"Where?" Daryl asked, pressing the knife a little harder against his wound.

"I don't know! I swear! Never in one place any longer than a night," Randall honestly didn't know where they were now. They had left him on that fence and moved on, without a second thought for him. "They left me! I'm trying to co-operate!" Daryl wasn't buying it and hit him again, as hard as he could in the jaw, causing Randall to spit out a tooth that had broken. "OK!" He'd had enough of the beatings now. Why couldn't they have sent someone friendlier to question him? "They have weapons. Heavy stuff, automatics. But I didn't do anything!"

"Your boys shot at my boys," Daryl kicked at his painful leg, causing him to sob quietly. "Tried to take this farm. An' you just went along for the ride? Tryin' to tell me your innocent?"

"Yes!" Randall used all of the strength he had left to put some power in his voice. "These people.. They took me in.. Not just guys, a whole group of them. Men and women, kids too, just like you people." Daryl glared at him for a moment. How did he know there were kids here? "Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know. But we'd go out, scavenge, just the men. One night, we.. we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters, teenagers, real young, real cute. Their daddy had to watch while these guys they.." Randall didn't describe what happened, but Daryl knew. And it made his blood boil. "And they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just they just made him watch as his daughters... and then just left him there. But I didn't touch those girls! I swear!"

Daryl put everything he had then into beating this trash. He wouldn't let anything like that happen to Stef. Lori. Carol. Anyone else. He was hurting his knuckles, and his side, but he didn't care. Just wanted to teach him a lesson.

"You gotta believe me," Randall cried inbetween punches. "I'm not like that. Please, you gotta believe me!"

When he finally thought Randall had gotten enough, Daryl made his way out of the barn and towards the camp. Everyone looked up at him, and he noticed Stef turn her eyes away from him. Maybe she'd thank him someday. Rick's eyes seemed to be searching for answers. "Got a gang of about thirty men, heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends," Daryl explained, noticing the worry on everyone's faces. "They roll through here, our boys are dead." He wasn't going to sugarcoat it for them, that was for sure. "And our women, are gonna wish they were."

"What did you do?" Carol asked quietly, also noticing the blood that was smeared all over his hands.

"Had a little chat."

* * *

Daryl had waited for a couple of hours before he had looked for Stef.

He knew she wasn't happy about the questioning methods he had used, and it bothered him that she was angry at him. Or not so much angry, more... disappointed? He found her playing a card game with the children, before he led her away from the camp.

The place Daryl had brought her too was somewhere he had stumbled across on his hunting trip. With all the death and decay around, it wasn't usual to find somewhere like this anymore. They were atop a hill, not too far away from the farm, that had wonderful views out over the countryside. The river could be seen in the distance, although it wasn't quite as appealing to Daryl anymore now that he had fallen into the water. With the sun setting in the distance, it really was picture perfect. "It's beautiful out here," Stef seemed mesmerized by the place and sat down on the ground, followed by Daryl.

He gave her a minute to finish taking in their surroundings before he turned his head to face her. "Ya still mad at me?"

"Never said I was," Stef replied, lowering her head slightly.

"Didn' have to. Ya hardly spoke to me earlier, ain't like ya."

She sighed quietly before gesturing towards his still bruised and bloodied knuckles. "Was that the only way?" Surely Randall could have passed on information without getting a beating for it.

"He's not as innocent as he looks," Daryl informed her, the kids words still making him want to track down every last member of the group he was with and beat them all to death. He'd make sure they couldn't do any more damage like what Randall had described if he got his hands on them.

"He didn't seem too bad to me," Stef suddenly paused when she realized she had more or less just admitted to going into the barn. "Uh... Dale and I took him something to eat."

"I know." Daryl gave a quick nod of his head, and she looked around at him. "I saw."

"Oh. I just thought maybe..." Stef's voice trailed off when she realized it was probably going to be about as useless having this conversation with Daryl as it had been with Rick.

"He told me about his group." Daryl looked out over the fields, wondering if he should repeat to Stef what Randall had told him. Not the kind of stories that were pleasant to tell, but maybe enough to keep her away from him from now on. To keep her safe. "What they did to one family. A dad an' his two lil' girls." His fists involuntarily clenched again as he thought about it. "The men... what they did to the girls. An' how they made the dad watch."

He didn't say anymore, just let Stef figure out the rest for herself. She didn't speak for a few minutes, but when she did her voice was barely more than a whisper. "That's awful." The family had probably been having a hard enough time surviving, and that... would have pushed anyone over the edge. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Daryl asked, confused.

"Not listening to you." He had told her to keep away from Randall, and now she knew it was only for her own good. He should have been the one mad at her, and not the other way around. "I know you had your reasons." Although, she still didn't think that killing Randall, or putting him in danger was the best way to resolve things.

She shifted over closer so she was right next to Daryl, and laid her head against his chest. It seemed easy to her, every touch, every kiss. Yet Daryl was still having to get over the initial discomfort every time.

"What did you do? Before all of this." Stef decided a change of subject was the best possible option at the minute, wanting to take her mind off Randall and his people for a bit. That could wait. Nothing was going to be done until tomorrow now anyway. "I still feel like I barely know you."

Daryl snorted quietly, wishing he had much better things to tell her. He found himself nowhere near impressive. "That's probably for the best." Stef lifted his hand and rubbed the injured knuckles as gently as she could. "Just some mechanics, here and there."

"You lived near Atlanta?"

"Had a trailer not too far away. Merle stayed when he was around. When all this started happenin', we headed for the city, heard they had some sorta' camps set up there. What about you?

"I was on the way to visit mom. Otherwise I wouldn't have been anywhere near Atlanta." It had been an unplanned visit anyway, a last minute decision. And now she couldn't have been more happy that she chose to go. Otherwise she wouldn't have been on the highway that day and met Dale and the girls. Who knows where she would have been now. She probably wouldn't have even been living anymore.

"I'm glad ya were," Daryl mumbled shyly, briefly thinking about where he might have been now if Stef wasn't around. Maybe he would have just packed up and left the quarry, the day they came back without Merle.

"Me too." She tilted her head upwards just enough so she could press her lips to his and kiss him softy for a moment.

When she pulled away, Daryl looked around him awkwardly. It was like one of those fucking romance movies, with the sunset in the background. "Shit, ya got me turnin' soft," he tried to joke, but his words were true. It did annoy him that she had changed him so much in the past couple of weeks. Merle would have had a grand time tormenting him, had he been here. Well, if Merle was here, things may not have even turned out the same way. It was in the back of his mind what would happen if they ever found him again. What would he think of him? "We should go an' get some sleep," Daryl pushed Merle out of his mind again as he got himself to his feet, and offered a hand to Stef. "Rick wants everyone in the house early tomorrow to talk about Randall."

She stood up, and laced her fingers into his own as they began walking back towards his tent. _Their tent_. When they got closer to the camp, Daryl tried to subtly pry his hand away. Stef noticed, but she let him, knowing he still felt uncomfortable being affectionate in front of others.

It didn't take too long to get back. Once he had lit the lamp, and zipped the tent shut behind them, Stef moved over towards him, and started to undo his belt buckle, feeling his eyes watch her every move. When his belt came loose enough, she helped him out of his bottom half of clothing, before slipping her hands under the bottom of his shirt, and starting to move upwards.

"Stef, don't," Daryl warned, as his hands caught hers and stopped her movement.

"What, Daryl?" Stef looked directly into his eyes. She needed him to let her prove she wasn't as much of a threat as he might have thought. "You want me to close my eyes everytime you undress?" He didn't say anything, only relaxed his grip slightly. "Let me." Hesitantly, he dropped his arms back to the side, and let her pull the fabric up, revealing his bare skin underneath.

She disappeared from in front of him for a moment, before Daryl felt her fingertips barely brush his back. His breath caught in his throat, wondering what exactly she thought of him at the minute. It wasn't much to look at, that was for sure. But instead of pulling away, he felt her hands settle at the bottom of his back, before she used her thumbs to start applying pressure and working out the tension that had built up on his body.

"Tell me if you want me to stop," she said softy, as she continued to work on him. And it surprised him that he didn't want her to stop. It was amazing how magic it felt, as she focused on parts of his body no one had ever paid attention to before.

She wasn't even interested in the scars that were there, just in making him feel better.


End file.
